The Crysis in Halkeginia
by justaguy221
Summary: [REWRITE OF THE SUIT OF ZERO]The Nanosuit, the most advanced piece of military hardware ever created. But now in the hands of a sixteen-year-old girl who had never felt the power she does now. Welcome to the future Louise, welcome to the war. [AU]
1. Chapter 1: The Suit

**_Well, here we are again._**

 ** _I've been wanting to do a rewrite of this story for a while now, as the first few chapters are weak don't stand up to the level of quality that I want from my work._**

 ** _However, things are going to remain pretty much the same, but there is enough of a difference to warrant what I'm doing. This also means that no new chapters are going to be coming out until I get this done, I will try and get through this as fast as possible. So bare with me as i spend the next few weeks re writing this story._**

xXXXx

A powerful familiar. A simple animal that was powerful enough to protect her in these uncertain times. It was what was expected of her, it was what both her mother and father wanted for her. The wave of sickness and civil unrest that consumed the floating island that Neighbored their home country of Tristian, was something that was on the minds of every high ranking noble in the lands.

It was because of this that she put in the extra work in learning the summoning how to make the summoning circle in order to give her the best chance to summon a powerful beast that could protect both her and her family. But it's never that easy.

Currently, The petit pink-haired mage known as Louise de La Valliere was currently sitting on her large luxurious bed as she gazed at the two items she had summoned today.

The first of which was a bow. It had caught her eye due to the fact that it was designed in a strange way, the string of the bow wrapped around several pullies that she had never seen before,

The other thing and weirdest of all was a suit of armour? At least that's what she thought it was, it was black and silver with black being a material that wrapped around the body much like one's muscles would. The silver, on the other hand, was used for the metal that intersected the body at various places. The helmet was much the same but had a red pain of glass placed where the slit of the helmet should have been.

The armour confused her the most. Originally it looked as if it was made for a man a foot taller than her and at least twice as big, but after Professor Colbert forced her to seal the contract with the suit of armour it changed.

For one the left hand glowed for a bit before fading revelling the same metallic glove, devoid of any new features. Secondly, the suit changed the size and shape adjusting to a perfect copy of her body. This caused more than a few comments to be thrown at her. Causing a wave an embarrassment to overtake any sense she had due to the fact that this suit was modelling her body.

With the help of her professor, She brought both items to her room. Although saddened by the fact that she had seemed to have summoned a simple suit of armour, Colbert had praised her for completing the first ever double summon.

But as she gazed at the suit of armour that sat lifeless beside her large bed on a pile of hay, she couldn't help but scoff, this wasn't a creature that could help her, this was nothing but a suit of armour. she could have gotten anything, but here she was with a suit of armour, what did it say about her.

Did the universe see her as so much of a failure that it gave her a bow? She could feel her anger began to well up within her. Was she worth nothing more than a simple metal suit of armour? Her anger came to a head when she tossed one of her pillows at the suit, causing it to slump over.

She sighed as her rage subsided, what was she going to do. Her professor had told her to try it on to try and figure out what it could do but one look at it and it seemed absurd, she was a noble, what good would it do to run around in a suit that looked like that.

She slumped back onto the bed as she let out a small groan, but what would happen if she didn't wear it. What kind of a mage would neglect their familiar? But this wasn't a normal familiar, this was a suit of armour and a bow, and while yes, she was at least somewhat proficient with the bow she used to use for hunting, she was an aristocrat using a bow in combat was barbaric.

But who was she kidding, she was a failure when It came to magic. She was no better than a commoner when it came to the skill.

She gazed at the armour once more she had read constant books that talked about magical artifacts, and the armour in front of her was magical is some aspect, it changed to fit her and only her. But that begged the question, was that because of the summoning spell or was it just working its own magic.

She let out a tired sigh, she would try it on once, if it had magical properties she would wear it, if not she would just forget it.

She walked over to the door locking it before turning back to the armour. Moving over to the suit she fiddled with the helmet, soon finding out how to pull it off.

She looked all around the armour for any type of seam, anything that could give her some indication on how it comes apart.

She eventually after much trial and error, found that the silver spine on the back of the suit could be detached, allowing one to slip there body inside.

It was at this moment that she realized that she wouldn't be able to wear it while also wearing her skirt and blouse. Sighing she stripped down to her undergarments before slipping into the armour.

After getting the body on, she stretched, testing the flexibility of the armour, much too her surprise it gave her a full range of movement as if she was wearing nothing at all. It was an odd feeling to be so armoured yet so maneuverable, especially when she compared it to her mother's troops, some of them could hardly turn their body in their heavy armour.

She turned back to the helmet that sat still on her bed moving over to the bed, She grabbed it before attempting to put it on, only to find her long hair blocked the helmet from attaching to the suit.

She sighed before tossing the helmet back onto the bed, she opened the suit once more and quickly tucked her hair into it. Grabbing the helmet once more she put it on. A clicking sound could be heard as it attached to the suit.

 _ **NEW USER. UPDATING INTERFACE**_

She quickly looked around the room searching for where the sound of the masculine voice was coming from.

As she was about to turn to the door she felt pain shoot across her body. Falling to her knees as the pain overtook her. Her body felt on fire as if thousands of tiny wasps were stinging her all over the body.

Her pained gasps soon returned to heavy breathing as the pain passed, and with it came a wave of euphoria the sense of pure pleasure. It was as if she was invulnerable to anyone or anything.

She soon adjusted to this high. Attempting to stand back up, she felt her legs buckle slightly as she stumbled back to her bed.

 _ **INTERFACE UPDATED. CAN NOT PROPERLY SEAL THE SUIT. REMOVING BLOACKAGE.**_

She really couldn't understand what it meant when it was talking about blockage but feeling this good she really didn't care.

 _ **WELCOME TO THE NANOSUIT 2 BY CRYTECH INDUSTRIES.**_

She drowned out the suit's voice as her mind began to wonder. This "nanosuit" was talking to her. was it human in terms of intelligence? It was not unheard of for magical artifacts to be sentient, but this seemed different to what she read about, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She began noticed the various things on the glass including a bar that seemed to be referencing energy on the bottom right corner.

On the left, however, there was a box that said "no signal" whatever that meant, a vertical bar that was grayed out, and what looked like a silhouette of a female standing up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what seemed like a white diamond appear at her window.

 _ **PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE DESIGNATED WAYPOINT**_

She did as she was told and walked over to the window. As she looked out across the courtyard an image flashed on the glass in front of her eyes as the voice once again spoke.

 _ **SUIT OVERRIDE.**_

The image of the courtyard began to magnify much to the pink haired girl's surprise. She had heard that triangle wind mages could do such a thing. Founder she sometimes caught her mother gazing out at groups of horses far enough away to be nothing but a blur. But for her armour to be able to do this.

She began to visibly shake from the excitement.

 _ **TACTICAL VISOR ENGAGED.**_

 _ **THE TACTICAL VISOR ALLOWS FOR INCREASED BATTLEFIELD AWARENESS**_

Her mind came back to the present as her view changed. The text was written all over the glass of her helmet with various information like the temperature outside and time of day. But what really shocked her was the fact that her view zoomed in on two people sitting at a table highlighted by an upside-down triangle hovering over them, as her view centred on them a new box of information popped up on the right side of the glass

 **Tristian magical academy student**

 **Status: Friendly**

 **Unknown energy signature detected**

 _ **THE VISOR'S SUIT FUNCTION ALLOWS YOU TO OBSERVE FROM A SAFE DISTANCE**_

"Katie, I must say that you truly are a rose in the garden of the academy" She let out a groan, she knew exactly who this was from that overused line. The man was hitting on a first year. This man was Guiche de Gramont.

"Do you truly mean that Lord Guiche?" The girl asked her voice full of hope.

"Could a gentleman like me ever lie" She had enough of this conversation and turned her gaze away from the cheese display of love and to a darker part of the courtyard. Finding a triangle floating in the darkness, someone was there but as to who she couldn't tell.

 _ **NANOVISION ENGAGE**_

With the end of that sentence, the world changed to grey allowing her to see into the dark. In the center of the courtyard was a figure that looked to be cleaning clothes, they were highlighted in various colours her torso was green in colour, her head was red but her skirt was blue.

 **Tristian magical academy servant**

 **Status: Friendly**

 _ **NANOVISON ALLOWS ONE TO SEE IN DARK PLACES WHERE LIGHT IS MINIMAL AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHTING THERMAL SIGNATURES.**_

This got her wondering again, seeing someone's heat wasn't something new in Tristan, but it was only reserved for triangle fire mages. Was this suit capable of fire magic?

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the energy bar was slowly going down, currently at ninety-two percent and dropping. "How do I turn this off?" Louise asked the suit hoping that it could tell her.

 _ **THE SUIT USES A NEURAL INTERFACE.**_

Taking a breath, she thought about turning off the "nanovision." The world returned to the darkness. Turning back to the rest of her room she noticed the odd-looking bow.

Moving over to it she picked it up to examine it. Too, her, it was an odd shape for a bow, it wasn't a like any recurve bow she's seen the top and bottom had pulley system for the string while also being orange in colour.

The top and the bottom were in the shape of a c before connecting to the main shaft of the bow where the grip and this weird green box thing lay. She also noticed that a picture of the bow appeared on the glass in front of her informing her that this bow was called the predator bow as well as the fact that it had long-range precision and that it was noiseless.

She scoffed, of course, it's noiseless, it's a bow.

Taking it in both hands she attempted to pull back on the bow, which much to her surprise she was able to, something that the biggest, strongest man here at the academy had trouble with. she started to laugh at the implications.

She was no longer weak, she had gotten exactly what she wanted, a strong and powerful familiar and since a familiar's powers are her own. Yes, she was powerful now, no longer a zero, even if her magic didn't work quite right this suit would make up for it. Turning towards the door she walked over to it with the idea of heading down to one of the courtyards.

Opening the door, she saw a sight she knew all too well. "Huh, so it was a Golem."

"What do you want Zerbst." Yes, Kirche von Zerbst, here self-proclaimed rival and biggest mocker here at the academy. She was the complete opposite to Louise in almost every way. Whereas Louise was tiny standing at five feet, she was five-foot-seven. Where Louise was as pale as a ghost she had beautiful olive skin. Where Louise was a failure when it came to magic, she was a prodigy. Where Louise was lacking in the chest region she was all there.

she stared at the suit for several seconds before attempting to move to pass her and into her room. Seeing this she simply stuck out her hand and stopped her from entering. "Louise can you get your golem to let me pass."

"It's me!" she shouted causing Kirche to stare at her blankly.

Raising her hands to her helmet Louise gave a simple twist before pulling it off revealing the face of an irritated girl.

She began chuckling before bringing both her hands to cover her mouth attempting to suppress her laughter. "L-Louise wha... what did you do to your hair...! _pffftt_ "

She stared at her confused before attempting to reach back for her hair. Only for a look of horror to overtake her face when she couldn't feel her hair. Turning away from Kirche she rushed over to the mirror only to confirm what she already knew. Her waist length hair was now only barely reaching the top of her neck.

Louise mind began to put the pieces together as to who and how her hair got cut. Clenching her fists Louise began to pound on her chest. "Stupid blasted Founder damned familiar suit! Do you know how long I had to let my hair grow to get that length!?

Kirche now composed attempted to consul the girl in front of. "Oh, it's not so bad Louise, now you look like a pink haired version of Tabitha."

The small mage glared at her rival, her face becoming redder and redder. "It was ten years I'll have you know! Ten years of grooming my hair to be like my mothers." She switched her gaze back to the suit. "A-a-and this suit just takes it all that work away!" She paused for a moment before gazing back at Kirche. "And you! What are you doing here you Germanian cow!?"

She was taken aback at how aggressive Louise was being but kept her composer. "Well I was simply interested in the familiar you summoned," she said as she approached the girl.

"Well, I'll have you know that I summoned a powerful familiar. Even better than your stupid overgrown salamander." Turning back to the mirror Louise stared at herself "This suit is the best familiar summoned I can tell you that."

She started to laugh. "If you say so, Louise. Let me know when your suit becomes more impressive than a dragon." She said while leaving the room Leaving Louise alone with her thoughts

She grit her teeth how dare that Germanian question the power of her suit, she knew it was powerful, she could feel it flowing through her. She began to feel better as the suit went to work improving her mood. Grabbing her helmet, she left the room.

xXXXx

Louise found herself in the Vestri courtyard. She had initially gone to the guard's quarters in order to get a target to practice on as well as some arrows to use, only to be yelled at that she was here so late. The man finally relented giving her a single hay target as well as a quiver full of arrows.

She brought the target over she placed it up against the wall of the void tower.

By the time she had everything set up it was late, she didn't care, she didn't feel tired on top of the fact that she had no classes tomorrow.

Putting twenty feet between herself and the target. Gazing at the target she thought a single thought

 _ **NANOVISION ENGAGE**_

Her world turned grey, allowing her to see without much difficulty

Much to her surprise seven lines showed up at the center of her vision, four of them were vertical all of them were situated away from the center, the three other lines were smaller in length as well as being horizontal, they were set on the left side of the center of her vision and were used to judge range. Moving the bow changed where the lines were in her vision. She briefly wondered if this was to show where the arrow would end up.

Centring her aim on the target once more she slowed her breathing while pulling back the string, this caused the lines to come together forming a tight box at the center of her vision. Breathing out she let the arrow fly impacting the center of the target Much to her surprise. Walking over to it she pulled out the arrow without much effort.

She gazed down at the arrow before turning to the bow, she was never this good at archery, she had trouble

Ignoring this thought she decided to put more distance between her and the target, now standing thirty feet away she shot the arrow, again and again, she hit it dead in the center.

Forty feet hit the center.

Fifty feet hit the center.

Sixty feet hit the center.

Now standing at seventy feet away from the target she pulled back the string arrow in place to impale the target that was so far away. Breathing in, to steady her aim.

 _ **ENERGY CRITICAL.**_

The harsh voice of the suit caught her by surprise causing the young girl to flinch slightly to the left. However, at this range, it was all that was necessary to cause her to miss her shot. Looking to the right of the glass, she saw that the energy had been depleted but it was already in the process of recharging. Content when it reached seventy percent Louise reactivated the nanovision

With the world back to grey she looked for where the arrowhead could have landed. Her view soon shifted to what appeared to be a raven-haired maid sitting on her rear holding her chest with a single hand in an attempt to slow her breathing.

She quickly rushed over to the maid. "Founder are you ok?"

The maid seemed to look at the suit in aww. "G-Grandfather?"

She just stared back at the maid the mask covering up her confusion, not that the maid could see. "uh, no, I'm not your grandfather." Louise told the maid still wondering how she could have been confused.

This seemed to catch the maid by surprise. She took another second to examine the suit in front of her before her eyes widened. "I am truly sorry mistress, I must have mistaken you for someone's else!" shouted before picking up the basket she was carrying. "Please have a good night!" she said before running off.

She just watched her run off. "Didn't even get to say sorry?" she said to no one. Glancing at the wall, she saw the arrow embedded in the rock. Her eyes widen as she glanced back at the bow she was currently carrying.

She walked up to the arrow, placing the bow on the ground as she reached out and grabbed it. Yanking it out of the wall, she found the arrowhead misshaped due to the stone it was implanted in.

Turning from the wall she gazed upwards towards the stars that overlooked the world causing her to let out a small sigh. It was getting late, and even if she didn't have classes it would be best if she went to bed. Turning towards the wind tower, she began the small trek back to her room.

xXXXx

Louise quietly opened the door to her room, she was many things to her classmates, but rude was not one of them.

Walking towards the table set up in the center of the room, she laid her bow out on it, before taking off her helmet and setting it beside it.

She turned towards the mirror, finding the same reflection that greeted her when Kirche had barged in.

She was still mad that this damned suit had stolen her hair, but she couldn't help but smile at her reflection. Louise the zero, the failure of her family weak in both body and spell casting. "Not anymore." She told herself

The way her suit looked on her just made her giddy with excitement, her arms that were sticks outside the suit now looked as if they were toned, the suits black and silver color scheme giving her an intimidating look that she had always wished she had on top the power she felt while using it, perhaps this is what It felt like to be her mother.

Her smile disappeared. "Mother." She muttered to no one. She was worried for her mother who, as per the decree of the pope, was sent to Albion in order to aid in the quarantine efforts.

It was more dangerous than ever before, with the civil war consuming the island the quarantine will most defiantly take a more active approach.

The rebels were winning last time she heard any news out of Albion and this made her very worried if any of the hushed rumours she overheard were true.

Clamping her hands together she uttered a quick prayer, wishing for God to watch over her mother.

She still stared at her gaze in the mirror for a few more moments before shaking her head to try and get her mind back on track she needed to sleep.

Reaching to the spine on her back, she fiddled with the spine. She suddenly felt several things get pulled out of her back, it felt weird as if someone was pu-

She was cut off when she was hit by a sudden wave dizziness, it felt as if she was hit with a weeks' worth of fatigue in a single moment.

She sluggishly reached over and grabbed the ends of the suit in order to pull it off of her, after several long minutes of slow work, it was finally off and she was in bed. It had hit her worse now, she felt weak powerless. She hated this feeling, so why was it here why did she feel this way.

Slowly the fatigue overtook her, and she was pulled into the land of dreams.


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl

Sunlight filter through Louise's curtains, illuminating the whole of the room.

The suit was in a heap in front of her bed, by the mirror, with the helmet and her new bow currently sitting on the table in the center of her room.

However, she was currently curled up in a ball on her bed, her knees pushed into her chest with her arms wrapped around them, holding them in place.

Her eyes slowly fluttered opened as the light teased them, slowly lifting herself from the bed she looked around before finding the suit.

She let out a small content sigh, as a small smile perched itself on her face happy that it wasn't simply a dream.

Throwing off her sheets she quickly left the bed and walked over to the suit quickly picking it up.

Turning her head to the mirror, she noticed something she hadn't yesterday. Running down her back were several holes made out of some kind of metal the largest of which was at the bottom of the neck.

Dropping the suit, she quickly ran her fingers over the holes. Her eyes widen as she felt the all too real metal beneath her fingers.

She felt sick, what would her family think if they saw this, how her skin was now defiled with these marks.

With tattoos becoming more and more popular with the commoners, her father and mother both told her how they felt about body modification before she was sent to the academy. Now, look at her, like some Germanian hussy.

But that left another problem, these holes were most likely from the suit, and by the pain that she felt happened it had done this to her when she first put it on. But why?

Knocking at the door pulled her from her thoughts. "Miss Valliere, are you awake?" The voice of what was most likely a maid came from the door

Glancing at the door then back to her indecent form, she quickly got to work trying to get the suit on. But as the handle on the door began to turn she did the first thing to come to mind "Uh. Yes, I'm awake. May I ask who sent you?" She asked

The maid seemed to pause for a moment. "It was professor Colbert ma'am. He seemed worried when you weren't at breakfast."

She grimaced at the idea that she had slept through breakfast as she finished getting the body part of the suit on. "Could you let him know that I'm fine and that I will meet him at his cabin."

"Right away." The Sound of footsteps could be heard getting more and more silent as the maid walked away.

With the suit on She turned back to the table which contained the rest of the items she summoned. Whatever doubts she had about the suit were squashed as she put it on. Her parents would initially hate it, but once they see how strong it made her. Yes, they wouldn't care.

She still had no proof that her suit was powerful, but it was a magical artifact that wasn't limited to a single element, that right there was a show of power.

She walked over to the mirror, and pulled a brush from one of its drawers, only to realize that her hair no longer needed the extensive care that was required for waist length hair.

With a sigh, she Looked over to the table, where the helmet resided and grabbed it. She looked over the fine material that covered it before putting it on.

 _ **INITIALIZING BOOT UP SEQUENCE**_

Text filled the glass before her vision returned to normal. She couldn't help but smile as the familiar feeling of power flowed throughout her body.

Her thoughts turned to her professor, she knew that in all likely hood he would be curious about her suit.

She grabbed a cloak that hung from the chair, and quickly put it on before walking over to the door, she stopped as she took one last glance at her new bow lay. She briefly wondered if she should bring it along but discarded the idea as she thought of the issues it could cause.

Opening the door, she found herself in an empty hallway. A smile formed on her face as she realized she wouldn't have to deal with teasing.

Walking with a brisk pace She reached the staircase and began to descend from the third floor of the tower.

The sun assaulted her eyes as she opened the large doors to the courtyard. she quickly brought up a hand to block the sunlight as her eye's adjusted to the change in lighting.

With her vision adjusted she let her hand fall, giving her a perfect View of the large courtyard. All across the courtyard, second-year students were playing with their familiars, getting to know them better as well as seeing what their familiar could do.

Most of them were nothing to ride home about like a dog or cat. The only two familiar's that seemed to impress anyone were the fire salamander that Kirche summoned and wind dragon that Tabitha summoned.

As she continued walking towards Colbert's cabin she kept on getting weird looks from the other second years as well as hearing whispers.

"Isn't that what the zero summoned?"

"So, it was a golem."

"Heh, figures the zero summoned a golem."

She continued to ignore the other students as an annoyed scowl formed on her face

"Oh, hello Louise." An all too familiar voice from behind her said in an all to happy voice.

she turned around reveling Kirche and the very small blue haired girl that was instantly recognizable by the large staff that she carried as Tabitha a powerful wind mage, known as a prodigy among the student body, but whereas Kirche is loud and in your face, she was the entire opposite of that, quiet, reserved and always face first in a book.

The students around the group seemed confused as to why Kirche was calling Louise's golem Louise. Even Tabitha gave her friend a confused look

"What do you want Kirche." The students surrounding the two seemed to be in a state of shock as she spoke. Hushed whispers could be heard being traded whispers.

"Oh, I was oh so worried about my favourite Valliere, out training so late at night with her bow."

Louise gazed around at the forming crowd trying to figure out what to say in an attempt to save face. "Of course, I was practicing with the bow I summoned, why wouldn't I be."

Kirche looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know what I think." She hummed "I think you know you're a failure when it comes to magic and that you would be better off learning the bow." Kirche was acting smug, it truly was a hobby of hers to wind up her up.

She began to ground her teeth in anger. How dare this Germanian harlot make fun of her powerful familiar, if only there was a way to show her.

 _ **SUIT OVERRIDE**_

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

With that single thought, her body seemed to disappear, the people around her quickly taking note of that fact.

 _ **CLOAK PROVIDES TEMPORARY INVISIBILITY TO AVOID DETECTION AND INFILTRATE ENEMY POSITIONS. MOVEMENT WHILE CLOAKED RAPIDLY DRAINS SUIT ENERGY.**_

Kirche looked at where she was just standing confused. "Zero? Where did you go?"

She could only stare in astonishment at her translucent arms. She quickly looked around her body, finding that it wasn't simply her arms, but everything was clear, even her cloak.

The surprise quickly transformed into sheer excitement as she soon realized that her suit was executing square level wind magic.

Sneaking through the crowd, she de-cloaked just outside of it, using the confusion as cover she quickly made her way to the cabin.

The suits cloak didn't last that long, but the fact that her suit was capable of this was more than enough to make her happy.

Quaint would be a good way to describe the cabin, with it being a small addition to the large Vestri courtyard, built shortly after he was hired.

Walking up to the door she gave it a quick knock. A sudden loud crash greeted her ears. "Ah. One moment please."

The door soon opened revealing the Kind face of her balding blue robed professor. A small pair of spectacles covered his eyes. "Oh Louise, I had figured you were sick when you weren't at breakfast." looking past him she found the cabin in a messy state, scattered papers covering almost every surface.

The table in the center of the room was the worst offender with open books thrown haphazardly over the table as well as several machines that she had never seen before. "You called for me?"

A confused look formed on his face "I never called you here?" She let a small sigh as she briefly wondered who would get her up. "But, please come in. But, please mind the mess. Your visit caught me off guard" He added before walking back over to the table before pulling out a chair for her.

She politely refused the seat offered to her as she walked over to the table. She couldn't help but gawk at the reading material on the table. _Unusual summons throughout history, artifact-based familiars, inanimate objects as familiars._

He walked over to the other side of the table where a machine rested. "I assume that you came by due to your suit?"

She nodded, "I've been experimenting with it, and you were right, it is magical."

A smile formed on the professor's face. He quickly pushed his machine aside as he got out a pencil and paper out of a hidden drawer. "Have you found out it's affinity?"

She shook her head "I'm not entirely sure, last night it had enhanced my vision allowing me to see the courtyard from my room without much effort, on top of hearing conversations at such length."

He quickly jotted down some notes. "So, what you are saying is that it may be a wind artifact."

"I originally thought that too, but I learned that this suit allows me to both see in the dark and heat."

"heat vision?" Colbert began to stroke his chin as if lost in thought. "Perhaps this artifact has a dual affinity with fire and wind. I mean they certainly complement each other. But which element is stronger of the two."

She raised her hand slightly letting Colbert know that she had figured out the answer to the question. "I think I know." She paused while taking a step back "On my way here I was cornered by Kirche and the students. She was up to her usual antics of trying to slander my image in front of everyone, but I was able to get away due to this."

 _ **CLOAKED ENGAGED**_

She suddenly disappeared causing him to look on in shock at the sudden use of power. "F-founder. Invisibility. Louise that's a square class wind spell you just performed."

Her body returned to Normal. "Well, I can't take all the credit sit. The suit does the work."

"That matters not Louise, a familiar's accomplishments are the Masters. Whatever you accomplish with this familiar of yours is your own achievement. Although getting back to the suit, it most certainly has a stronger affinity for wind, which as the daughter of the heavy wind, shouldn't be that much of a surprise." She was beaming with glee at the praise "Do you know how long you can stay cloaked?"

She shook head. "Although it did say that it wouldn't last as long when I move with it on."

The man hummed, before reaching back into the drawer before producing a pocket watch. "How about we test it right now?"

Seeing no reason to argue, she simply activated her cloak while Colbert timed her. She watched as her energy meter slowly dropped.

After about a minute of waiting, her energy finally depleted, causing her body to become visible again.

The man hummed as he gazed at the watch. "Well it's not as long as the square class spell, but simply the fact that you can perform such a spell." the man quickly jotted down more notes as her energy refilled once more. "Now how long do you have to wait, until you can cloak yourself?"

"Right now."

He looked at her in disbelief for several moments before letting out a small chuckle. "It seems that I must have misheard you. How long did you say it took?"

"My suit seems to be able to recharge its energy in five seconds if I stand still."

He jotted down some more notes. "And this energy, would you say it acts like Willpower?"

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Whenever I used a suits ability it would drain, depending on what I'm doing."

He once again scribbled more notes onto the piece of paper. "Now, this may sound odd, but is it sentient?" he asked without looking away from the paper.

She thought about it for a moment. "No, at least I don't think, it talks to me, but it seems more like an advance golem, only responding to certain questions."

The man hummed. "I'm sorry for taking up your time, but I have one final question. Do you feel any different?"

"Different?"

"More powerful, stronger, faster?"

"Yes, without a doubt," she answered without hesitation. "When I wear it, I am stronger."

"How, so?"

"The bow that I summoned that the guard captain couldn't draw. I had no issue doing so."

He stared at her bewildered by her declaration. The captain was a veteran, serving in the tenth, Germanian Tristian war. But even in his old age, he was still built for such a profession. But the idea that she was stronger than that man when she was over a foot smaller then her. It seemed preposterous.

He began to tap his pencil on the table in thought. "Louise, go fetch me your bow, and meet me and the front gate, I feel that we should test your suit more thoroughly."

xXXXx

Louise followed behind her staff-wielding professor, as they left the academy with her helmet in her hands. In the distance, she could see the rolling mountains. They walked along the only road that left the academy which snaked through the nearby forest.

She was, however, confused as to why the professor had wanted to conduct the test out of the academy. The courts were large enough to conduct any test she could think of.

As if he could read her mind, he stopped in his tracks, before turning towards her. "Now I know what you must be thinking. I simply figured that you would prefer to perform the tests, away from the prying eyes of the student body."

She could only assume that she looked shocked if the professor's chuckling was any indication. "Teenagers can be fickle with their emotions, but after being a teacher for close to a decade I can figure you out."

She turned away, slightly embarrassed that she was that easy to read, but her gaze soon shifted back to the professor as resolve filled her. "What test do you want to do first?"

The man gazed at her in thought for a moment. "You said you were stronger, I wish to see it." the man muttered a quick incantation as he raised his staff. "If you would put on your helmet we can get started

Doing as she was told she put on her helmet. Suddenly two semitransparent cuffs appeared on her wrists, which flew together causing her to drop her bow. She let out a small gasp as she realized the spell that he had used from the few times she had seen her mother perform it. "Air binds!"

The man nodded. "Most know me for my primary element, but I'm also highly proficient in wind magic. Now, we can use it to test just how strong you are."

She looked up at the professor her helmet hiding her confusion. "How?"

"The more you force, the more willpower I will have to pour into maintaining it. Now, if you would."

Her gaze returned to her wrists as she prepared herself. Taking a deep breath, she began to slowly separate her wrists.

She heard a grunt come from beside her as her wrists were once again forced together. Putting more strength into her arms, she prayed them apart once more.

A louder grunt was heard as they were once again forced together. She turned to her professor, finding that he looked extremely taxed. Was she really so strong?

She attempted to pry her arms apart once again but found that the magic was simply too strong for her.

 _ **SUIT OVERRIDE**_

But before she could relent, her suit acted up once more.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

She suddenly felt a wave of power rush over her, the world around her seemed to fade as all of her attention was placed on getting out of these cuffs, nothing else mattered. Letting out a battle cry, she yanked her wrists apart with ease, the binds suddenly disappeared.

The feeling of power soon faded, as the world around her came back. She gazed down at her hands as her suits voice filled her ears.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER ENHANCES THE OPERATORS STRENGTH AT THE COST OF SUIT ENERGY.**_

She suddenly became acutely aware of the heavy breathing to her side, turning she found the professor on his hands and knees, as he attempted to catch his breath.

"Are you ok?" she asked as she rushed up to him, offering a hand. The man looked up at her surprise covering his face.

"I'm fine, it's just willpower exhaustion." He took the hand that was offered to her and was swiftly pulled to his feet.

"Willpower exhaustion?" she questioned in disbelief. She knew Colbert was a square level mage, for her to have exhausted him like that.

He simply nodded as his breathing returned to normal. "That suit is indeed strong." A smile once again formed on her masked face. "Now, should we move on to the next test?"

The girl quickly nodded, causing a small kind smile to form on his face. He turned towards the forest in the distance, which was around two miles away. "Run there and back."

She looked at him bewildered. "What?"

"Run there and back."

He was crazy, only the most experience couriers could maintain a running speed for such a length of time. "i-I couldn't do that, I won't be able to make it." she explained.

"Miss Valliere, you just broke a spell meant to keep the toughest of orcs bound without breaking a sweat. You aren't even breathing heavily, it's as if it was nothing to you. A run shouldn't be that hard."

She let out a small groan of annoyance, she never liked running and never understood why her mother did it all the time, she recalled all those times she had seen her running around her manor. She would do this daily, it was an obsession for her, it even got to the point where she would end up sneaking out at night and wouldn't return until dinner.

She pushed the thought from her mind, as she turned towards the forest. She leaned forward as she got ready to run. he was right, she hadn't felt tired from breaking the binds, a little run would be nothing, at least she hoped.

Once in position, she looked to her professor who now held his pocket watch once more.

He gave her a small nod, which caused her to spring forward into a full-on sprint. He was right, she surprised herself with just how fast she was moving. The world blurred around her as she picked up even more speed.

She couldn't help but joyfully laugh. She felt amazing, it was truly freeing to be able to run at such speeds, perhaps this is what her mother found so enthralling in such a tedious task.

She looked back as a smile formed on her face, allowing her to see the stunned face of her professor. Her smile quickly faded, as she noticed the blue spec in the sky.

She could already tell who that was, it was obviously Tabitha, she was the only one to have summoned a dragon this year. She could all but groan at the implication, Kirche had to be with her.

The scowl was suddenly swept away by surprise, as she realized that the forest was already upon her. She could only wonder how fast she was going, it was at least two miles from the academy so how did she get here so fast.

It wasn't long until she was underneath the shade of trees. However, instead of stopping and turning back and returning to him, she decided to keep going. She may have been fast, but she doubted she could outrun a wind dragon.

She gazed upwards towards the sky, finding that the canopy was thick enough that they wouldn't be able to find her.

She slowed to a walk, as she began to look for a place to rest while she waited for the dragon to go away.

She soon found what she was looking for in the form of an old stump just on the side of the road. Walking over she sat down. Removing her helmet, she set it beside her as she cleared her mind.

She closed her eyes as she was serenaded by the various birds that lived in the forest. She could feel the warm rays of sun that pierced the canopy on her face. She felt at ease, a smile formed on her face as her mind cleared of anything.

 _ **THREAT DETECTED**_

Her mind suddenly came back to her as a scream filled her ears. She quickly grabbed and put on her helmet before looking for the source of the voice.

Looking deeper into the forest she realized where the voice had come from. Her mind was conflicted, what should she do, she doubted it was bandits they were too close to the academy, but it could be a multitude of different things.

She shook her head, clearing her mind of doubts. As a Valliere it was her job to aid the people of Tristian, if her mother was here she would help.

Standing up she walked back onto the path before jogging towards the voice.

She quickly hid behind a tree before looking at the source of the voice, finding the same maid from yesterday, sitting up next to a tree. Her face was marred with dirt, and the uniform she wore was ripped and bloodied in several places. in her hands was a large pan, that she held defensively.

Surrounding her were four earth trolls, in there large three-fingered hands were clubs and makeshift axes. They all wore simple fur clothes most likely from some poor farmers livestock.

She couldn't help but pause at the sight, what were they doing this close to the academy, they should be up in the mountains where human mages wouldn't find them. Were they no longer afraid of us?

A moment of clarity came to her as she realized that the national troll hunt hadn't taken place this year due to most of the powerful mages being stationed at the quarantine, as well as the fact that the crown didn't have the money to fund such large hunts.

As her mind came back to the presence she couldn't help but grit her teeth as she internally cursed at herself for not having brought her wand or bow. No, she had to help her. She set her sights on a troll armed with a club that was the closest to her.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGE**_

With her body now hidden, she left her cover and walked towards it as she eyed a dagger that hung off a fur skin belt.

Another scream from the maid as she was grabbed by a troll caused her to sprint forward, reaching the troll in no time. Instincts that she didn't know she had took over, as she quickly yanked the dagger off of its hip and plunged it into its neck before it could react.

The large creature let out a gurgle that filled the air, as it fell limp. The other trolls took notice of her arrival, letting go of the girl. What she had assumed would be a simple battle quickly turned into a staring contest as every one of them waited for someone to act.

Reaching down she slowly picked up the club, as a new sensation filled her. She felt surprised at how light the wooden club was, however, she pushed that feeling to the back of her mind, she was in the middle of a battle and needed to think clearly.

A bold troll suddenly lets out a cry before charging her with a rusted axe. She readied to dodge it but found the suit had locked up.

 _ **SUIT OVERRIDE**_

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

Her suit became heavier as it began to glow blue. Her attention, however, was on the troll that was rushing her, its arm was above its head ready to strike her. She tried with all of her might to move out of the way, but her suit just wouldn't listen, was it trying to get her killed?

The irony of the situation pained her, her first magical success in summoning this suit was also going to get her killed.

She watched as the beast brought his axe down, closing her eyes just before impact. A loud clank echoed throughout the forest, as she felt the impact of the axe. She felt confused, she didn't feel pain. Opening her eyes, she found the axe blade pressed against her shoulder. She let out a surprised gasp as she realized it hadn't dented her armour.

 _ **ARMOUR ALTERS THE NANOSUIT'S OUTER SURFACE TO ABSORB DAMAGE AND INCREASE OPERATOR SURVIVABILITY IN COMBAT. ARMOUR MODE REQUIRES SUIT ENERGY.**_

She glanced to her energy bar and found that it did indeed take a hit, resting at seventy-five percent.

She looked back at the troll in front of her, who seemed confused at the fact that she hadn't gone down in a single strike. She felt something possess her as she reached up and grabbed its wrist. It let out a panicked screech as it attempted to pull away from her.

Ignoring it, she reeled back the club, as it continued to struggle in her grip and brought it down with on its head. The sickening sound of bone being crushed echoed in her ears as the body became limp.

Trading the club for the axe, she looked at the final two trolls as she readied her axe. The trolls seemed conflicted, whether they should run or not, they looked between each other every now and again as if trying to come up with a plan.

The duo split up and began to circle around her. She watched both of them to the best of her ability, she had to give them credit for showing a small inkling of intelligence.

Sweat began to form on her brow as the anticipation for combat began to eat at her. Looking at the trolls found that they were in the same situation as her.

A sudden yell from behind her alerted her to the charging troll. Turning, she found it almost upon her, its axe was raised above its head ready to cleave at her skull. Behind her, she heard the faint stomps over the battle cry.

The axe came down upon her, she dodged it with ease as she let out her own battle cry. She spun and swung the axe, aiming at the neck. it tore through the skin with ease, blood instantly shot from as it sunk even deeper into its neck.

She attempted to pull it from the neck to use it on the last one but found that it was caught in the bone.

Letting go she turned to face the last troll. Finding that it was in the process of swinging its club at her side. Time slowed down as the club struck her, causing her to flinch slightly, the suit, however, kept her in place.

The armour that covered her body vanished as the last of the energy was used up.

The troll looked fearful of her, of the power she had. It dropped the club as it away scurried away into the forest.

She watched as it ran off, it would most likely warn the others of its tribe that humans are the one thing they shouldn't go after.

Turning back to the maid she found her at the same tree, however as she approached her she felt something was off, she was staring at nothing, her eyes looked dead, her skin was pale and her forehead glistened with sweat. The pan that she was using to defend herself laid beside her in a limp hand. Something was obviously wrong.

She quickly rushed over to her and sat down beside her. She tried everything she could think of to get the maid to respond to her, but nothing happened, she wouldn't respond.

She looked over the wounds but only found shallow cuts, there wasn't anything that should do this to a person.

An idea suddenly hit her. Trolls were crafty, like most of the first-born races. She had heard horror stories from previous troll hunts that they would sometimes smear their feces on their crudely made weapons as a form of toxin.

Rushing over to an axe, she quickly examined it, finding brown smeared all over the blade. She felt bile rise from her stomach before dropping it and running back over to the catatonic maid. She quickly scooped her up and ran back to the academy.

Her world blurred as she left the forest finding herself in the clearing, the six academy towers in the distance were racing towards her as she ran.

She felt tired, but glancing at the maid's pale face ace renewed her resolve, she had to save her. The summoning of this suit was supposed to be a clean slate for her, she couldn't let another failure stain her reputation.

She flew by her professor as she sprinted into the courtyard. She could feel the eyes of her peers on her back as she ran to the water tower.

She slowed down as she approached the door. Throwing the maid onto her shoulder she flung the door open and quickly maneuvered through the lavish hallways that she was all too familiar with until she reached the infirmary.

Inside she found the young female nurse, she blue robes that covered every inch of her body, who was in looking over her inventory. "Help," she asked as she ran over to one of the many empty beds that lined the walls and laid her down. She couldn't help but clench her fists as she realized just how shallow her breath was

The nurse quickly walked over and examined the girl. "What happened?"

"She was attacked by trolls."

She pulled out a wand, and quickly muttered an incantation, vapour filled the air in front of the passed-out girl before it entered her body.

Louise waited in bated breath as the women let out a small out a sigh. "I can treat the cuts, but the potion to cure the toxin is extremely expensive right now, we only have one in stock and we just don't have the money to purchase another one right now."

"So, you're just going to let her die!?" she shouted, did she have no shame.

The women glared at her. "It's troll season, and since hardly anyone is hunting this year they will be everywhere, this is already a clear example of them encroaching on our territory. Now tell me, what will happen if a noble student dies from troll toxin, and we used the last potion on a servant."

"I'll pay for it then!"

The women stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, she ran over to a cabinet. The women opened one of the doors and scanned the bottles, eventually finding what she was looking for.

She marched back to the bed with a potion in hand. Setting it down on a table she opened it before raising her wand once again.

The potion turned to vapour, she weaved it into the air, before forcing it down the maid's nose. The effects were immediate, her breathing returned to normal, as her pale skin began to regain its colour.

"Will she live?"

The women nodded, "she'll be fine, you got her here in time before the toxin could really do much to her." She let out a sigh of relief, she had saved her, a failure she wasn't. "I'll send the invoice up to your room miss?"

She raised her hands and slowly took off her helmet revealing her short pink hair. "Valliere ma'am."

The women stared at her for a moment. "Well, if you would leave my infirmary so I can get to treating this girl. By the way, you should probably get your armour and cloak washed off. The troll blood is starting to smell."

She looked down at her body, finding it covered with red troll blood. The smell suddenly hit her like a horse causing bile rise into her mouth.

The nurse let out a small sigh. "There's a bucket in the corner." She sprinted over to it, before vomiting up bile into it. "There are some napkins on my desk." the nurse shouted. Walking over she plucked the napkins from the desk and wiped her mouth.

Breathing through her mouth she quickly put on her helmet, before leaving the infirmary altogether.

She blocked the sun with her hand as she left the water tower. A smile formed on her face she had saved her. She wished that she knew of a way to write to her mother in order to tell her what she had just done.

This was a good start to her week.

xXXXx

 **A/N**

 **First I would like to thank all the reviewers.**

 **helkil: sorry but I have to say that romance, won't be that big in this story, the nature of the nanosuit wouldn't allow it. Doesn't mean there won't be undertones but you know it won't really led to anything.**

 **Roboman: I would suggest that you watch the Crysis 2 intro just to get a grasp of the power she has.**

 **Anyway, here we have probably the biggest change in the re-write, no more Guiche fight because that's overdone. Instead, we get Louise running extremely fast and fighting trolls.**

 **Now about her speed, in truth she ran two miles in around three and a half minutes, this may seem impossible but in Crysis 2 you are able to trigger speed traps one of which is on FDR drive in new york meaning that she should be able to run between 30-40 mph if she really pushes herself.**

 **anyway have a good day, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3: A day in Tristian

It had been a week since she had summoned the suit, and things have gone, well enough. She had been wearing it daily and even to class, obviously the teachers had a problem with the fact that she wasn't wearing her uniform, but she simply stated that it was her familiar and that she needed to have it on.

But this had caused her to find out things about the suit that confused her. For one her memory was better, she could remember and recite lectures verbatim, with little difficulty, it confused her due to the fact that she didn't wear her helmet during classes.

The suit had also changed in the week that had passed. The box no longer simply stated no signal, it had begun to map her surroundings for her. It got everywhere she went was mapped. It confused her just how it was able to do such a thing she had also learned that the faceplate could be raised with but a thought, allowing her to eat and drink without much hassle.

The suit wasn't the only odd thing to have happened. The maid that she had saved, had been following her around for the past week, she would always be the maid to get her up and would have breakfast ready and waiting for her at her bedside table. She would never say that having room service constantly was a bad thing, it was simply odd.

However, this was perfect with her new routine that she had started. After she would put on the suit, she would quickly eat before trying to tucker herself out, which was becoming increasingly more difficult. It used to be that she could simply sprint around the academy for several minutes, but it soon became clear that that wasn't enough.

She began using her suit's powers while running, in order to try and tucker her out, it worked for the most part, but as soon as her energy began to refill she felt the fatigue wash away.

After that she would go to classes for the entire day, occasionally seeing the maid waiting for her outside the classes. After the first day, she confronted the maid, asking her why she was doing this. She said that she was Siesta and that her family places a lot of value on repaying debt.

She was skeptical at first figuring this was simply another ploy to smear her, but after a few days and more she found that She was genuinely wanted to pay back the debt. In the end, she ended up with a personal maid in all but name, aiding her in the girls off time. Was this what her mother meant by the term life debt.

But as the week dragged on, she found themselves having many a conversation about various stories they had read. It was sort of freeing having a genuine friend at the academy, it was something that she had been missing for the past year and a half.

Having someone to talk to certainly made late-night archery practice more interesting.

Currently, however, she sat at her table, eating the stew that was brought up to her by Siesta.

"So, what is the plan for today mistress," she asked gleefully.

She shovelled a spoonful of stew into her mouth. "I'm not sure, I should keep up with my studies, but my sui-"

"Helps you remember things, yes you've said that before."

She let out a small sigh. "I know."

"So, you're saying that you're free today?" she asked, just looking at her she could tell she was hoping that she would say yes.

"I guess so."

"That's perfect!" she shouted, startling her. "Mister Marteau had wanted me to go to the city in order to pick up some exotic ingredients that you can't get from the local farms. Perhaps you could accompany me?"

She gave the girl a thoughtful look. A day in the city didn't sound so bad. Looking out the window she could see the faint glow of the sun as it began to peer over the mountains. "I would have thought you would be a bit more fearful about leaving the academy after being attacked by the trolls?" she asked as she looked back at her.

She looked away as if shamed by her fear. "I, am." She turned back to her face spoke of determination. "But I know that if you were to accompany me there wouldn't be any problems."

A smile formed on her face. "Then you best prepare for the journey."

She looked taken aback by the response. "T-t-then should I get horses ready?"

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "We should be fine." She told her with a smile.

"Then I'll go prepare." The maid cheerfully walked out of the room, set on her destination leaving the pink haired mage all by herself, she had to wonder what she was going to do in the city.

She let out a small sigh, she didn't really need anything to do there, she could just walk around and enjoy the sunny day.

She organized her plates before standing up and walking over to where her bow and the nearly empty quiver lay. a sudden idea popped into her head. The guards didn't like the fact that she had been stealing all the arrows. Perhaps this was what she was looking for. Grabbing the bow and quiver, she left for the academy gate.

xXXXx

Several hours later, Louise and Siesta found themselves at the entrance to Tristan, the capital city of Tristan, her faceplate was up in the hope to not to attract too much attention.

As the two girls walked through gates to the city she continued to wonder just who would call the capital city of the country the same as the country itself. She could just imagine the confused conversations between merchants wondering where to bring the goods.

 _"So, I need you to bring forty muskets to Tristian"_

 _"where in Tristan sir?"_

 _"Tristan."_

Her imaginary merchant's conversation was cut off when she walked into the back of the maid, causing her to lurch forward almost losing her footing. "Why did you stop?"

Siesta who was beaming with a happy smile on her face as clear as day only pointed forward. Following her finger, She found herself staring at the Happy tree book company. A fairly famous bookstore that opened some twenty or so years ago, known for containing the purest forms of religious texts as well as the most deviant of romance novels.

The church initially condemned the store by pulling their books from the store, they found that sales of said books dropped almost eighty percent in the following years. So eventually the church begrudgingly sold their books to the store in hopes of reaching as many people as possible. And they were partially correct sales returned to normal and in some months surpassed expectations.

She had known the shop for a long time Although the times she had actually gone into the shop could be counted on a single hand. The most recent of which was last year, while the school's library was indeed full of knowledge on magic and the various systems, it was all rooted in fact, providing no aid to her in terms of getting a handle on her faulty magic. This caused her to turn to the less than factual sources.

That summer after requesting a large allowance to further her study, she spent a week in the city, spending the night sleeping at the shining pearl, a nearby high-class inn for the merchants and nobles to stay while visiting the city, while spending the day inside the store looking for anything that could point her in the direction of figuring her magic.

But on closer inspection, she realized that she wasn't pointing at the store, but at a sign in the window, Inside said window was a sign stating that the new "adventures of Pirate lord Edison Ark" book had just been released and from the way she looked she was giving she was a fan. Without warning, she grabbed her arm "Come on miss Valliere!" The maid shouted dragging her off into the store.

She was surprised by the strength that the maid had shown. She was helpless as she was pulled through row after row of bookcases, searching for the latest in the Edison Ark Series. She suddenly came to a stop as she had found the book.

There stood on display at the center of the store was the book "Adventures of Pirate lord Edison Ark: The curse of the Frozen isle." Letting go of her the maid rushed forward taking the book in both hands she opened it scanning the pages. Peering over her shoulder, She was able to make out what she was reading.

 _"Mister Edison I'm but a simple maid." The young servant said but was quickly silenced by a short passionate kiss. As the two parted the Maid found herself breathless, to think she was just a prisoner to that tyrant noble Edward Ark yet that kiss made it seem like she was more to him._

 _"And I myself am just a fallen noble turned pirate." The two returned to their passionate battle of the tongues as Edison slowly pushed the maid into the wall. The man pulled back taking another moment to examine the face of his latest lover. "The way of my family is disgraceful, after spending a year travelling I saw the plight of the commoners, it is what originally made me turn against my fellow nobles."_

 _The man returned to kissing the maid who in turn raised her leg locking it behind the man's back. The man responded in kind as he brought his hand to he re-"_

"Can I help you?" Came a voice from behind causing her to jump in surprise. Turning she saw a young woman wearing the store's uniform was gazing at her.

"I. Uh." Her mind was short-circuiting what was she supposed to say, that a noble was reading such shameless smut such as that.

"You know a noble such as yourself doesn't need to hide the fact that they like to read books like this." She could feel her face getting hotter at this commoner's insinuations. In a moment of clarity, she had thought up an idea.

She puffed out her chest as she let out a cough. "I have no idea what you are talking about, I am but a simple a travelling mercenary looking for something to keep me occupied on the long nights out on the road." That should do it, she wouldn't be seen as a noble and she wouldn't be shamed for simply gazing at such a perverse book.

"Mercenary my shoe." The women waved a hand dismissing such an idea. "A simple mercenary couldn't afford an armoured suit like that." She brought up her hand and cupped her chin. "So, I'm guessing you're a fallen noble posing as a mercenary." Dread was filling her, a noble seen in such a Lewd part of the shop was a controversy in the making. "So, do you need anything."

"Uh. No, I was just leaving." She reached back. "Come on Siesta." She told the maid but found herself grabbing at air. Quickly turning her body, she found that the area where Siesta once stood was now empty.

Leaving the attendant in a stunned state she ran off looking for the maid in hopes of leaving this store as soon as possible.

Running through the store she finally found the young maid currently paying for the book walking up behind her she simply waited for her to be done. After paying for the book she turned around, coming face to helmet with her. "Oh, uh Miss Valliere. Did I get distracted." She simply nodded "I-I'm sorry."

she let out a sigh. "It's fine but we should probably get back on track, you have ingredients and I have arrows to buy." The two left the shop reemerged into the busy street.

xXXXx

An hour had passed since Leaving the bookstore, in that time Siesta had bought the ingredients for the chef. Now the duo was currently wandering around looking for a blacksmithing Guild.

They walked through alleyways, through crowded streets but their search turned up nothing. She was about to give up when she saw an alleyway they had never seen before. It was odd for an alleyway, it felt like it was disjointed from the rest of the city, for one it looked cleaner then the street they were on as if kept by some unseen force, secondly no one around her bothered to pay it any mind. It was simply as if they were the first to find it

Looking back at Siesta, she found that she looked tense. When she had pressed her on the issue she simply stated that she didn't know why but it just felt wrong. Turning back to it, she slowly moved forward starting out cautiously inching her way forward before picking up the pace. She couldn't quite place her finger on it but something about this alleyway made Her tense.

Pulling out her bow she readied it. The feeling of tension continued to climb as they ventured deeper into the alleyway.

The time in the alleyway seemed to stretch on, the walls dragged on endlessly as if it had no end. They eventually reached the end. Finding a small quaint shop with a simple anvil and hammer as it's signed. The name of the shop was simply the black anvil smiting guild.

The pair slowly Entered the shop finding that they were completely surrounded by racks of weapons, all of which looked fairly old and rusted adding to the ominous atmosphere of the shop. Above the entrance was a shield with swords placed in an X pattern in front of it.

They passed the rows of weapons they approached the counter, she set her hands down on it, only to pull them away when she realized just how much dust had covered the counter.

The dust covering the counter was thick, the counter looked like it hadn't been washed in years. The girls sat at the counter for a few minutes, the person running the store seemingly nowhere to be found.

Turning back around she walked over to the weapons slowly examining them while siesta continued to stay at the counter. She attempted to pick up the wooden spear, only for the wood to break and shatter into pieces which fell and landed with a small bang.

Panicking she Reached down to pick up the spear but she saw something the confused her, the wood was rotted. As she attempted to took a closer look she was interrupted by the sound of rustling. She looked to the source, finding a barrel full of various weapons. Siesta seemed to have heard the noise too as she seemed fearful of the barrel.

She cautiously approached the barrel, ready for anything or anyone to pop out. As she got close, she saw a single hilt of a blade shaking furiously. "Ah hello." A new voice startled the maid and mage causing both to jump.

They turned their attention to the source of the new noise with her pulling back on the bow ready to fire. She slowly returned the bow to the original form as she examined the man that had startled the two.

The man was old, to say the least, he was hunched over the counter, the top of his head was covered in small patches of white hair. "Now, now there is no need for that. I am but a humble blacksmith" He said waving his hands to try and calm her down. As she put the bow back on her back he continued. "Now what can I help you with?"

She walked to the counter continuing to stare at the man in front of her. She didn't know why but something about this man was causing her to be tense. "Yes, I was looking for arrows for my bow," Louise stated taking the bow off of her back and setting it on the dusty counter.

The man leaned in close to the bow seemingly take in all of its features. "Oh my, I have never seen a bow like this before. But from the looks of it." The man paused. "I may have something for this in the back give me a moment." With that, the man left the two girls alone in the shop. Silence quickly taking over the atmosphere

"Psst, Pinky." A voice coming from nowhere, in particular, said, causing both of them to quickly look around. "In the barrel." The voice said growing impatient. The two girls instinctively turned to the barrel. Walking over to the barrel, she found the same hilt as the one that was just previously shaking. Pulling it out revelled a rusted single-edged sword. "Took you long enough, now listen you are in danger." The sword whispered to her.

She was currently gazing through the sword. She had heard of sentient weapons before but actually seeing one talk was something completely different. "What do you mean danger?"

"That man ain't who he says he is, he's a spirit of illusion. Ever since you entered the alley he has been waiting to strike." This caused Siesta to pale as Louise's heart began to race. She had heard about these spirits, they were like the ones elves used to cast their first-born magic. But what was one doing here? "Look we can get out of here but we're going to need to work together for this."

"And why would you help us?" She asked her voice harsh.

"This beast killed my partner nearly fifteen years ago and has prayed on unsuspecting travellers for much longer. On top of this, I don't want to spend any more time here."

She looked at the sword for a moment. The sentient swords she had heard of were said to be wise, said to spend their lives following various knights while collecting vast amounts of and knowledgeable, so he must be at least telling part of the truth. "So how do we get out of here?"

"The entrance to the illusion is one way, if you were to go out that door and back into the alley you would find that entrance is now blocked by a wall. The exit is in the other direction, through the back door of this smiting shop. When he comes back, buy me and the arrows then run past him." The sword finished speaking Turning to the maid, she gave her nod asking her if she understood the plan. Siesta for her part looked absolutely terrified but she knew that this was the only option. "Oh, here he comes.

The two girls turned to see the white-haired man return. A quiver full of arrows in his hand. "Sorry it took so long but I found some arrows for your bow miss." The man set the quiver down onto the counter before gazing at the two girls more specifically the sword Louise was carrying. "Ah I see that you've found Derf, a good sword he is, although I have to remember to clean him up sometime"

the two girls thought at the same time simply stared at the man, no beast, he was no man.

"Although he is a talker." The man turned his gaze to the sword in particular. "Aren't you Derf." When the sword didn't respond the man simple rubbed the back of his neck. "Well he must be asleep, he gets like that sometimes. I'm guessing you want to buy him?" She simply nodded. I'm guessing you want a sheath for the blade." Again, she nodded. Causing the man to return to the back of the shop. Leaving her some time to figure out what she was going to do.

Siesta didn't have the suit so she couldn't cloak or turn nearly invulnerable. But as she thought about it she had a singular voice in her mind began to speak, why wasn't she scared. If, like the sword said they were dealing with an illusionary spirit of the elves then there was a very good chance of death if the stories were to be believed so why wasn't she scared?

"Found it." The man said as he returned to the counter and set it down "Let's see fifty for Derf, twenty-five for the sheath and another twenty-five for the arrows. That all comes to an even one hundred new gold coins." She slowly reached for her bag of money. Pulling it put she grabbed a hundred new gold coins and set it on the counter. Attaching the sheath to her waist she slid Derf into it before grabbing and putting on the new quiver.

"Now Siesta!" Louise shouted before grabbing her and throwing the maid over her shoulder as she jumped the counter. Dragging Siesta through the back of the store, they passed by several more racks of weapons as well as a smelter and anvil.

Rushing past it Louise found herself in the housing part of the store, running through the various rooms, she finally saw the door that the sword was talking about. Bursting through the door, Louise and siesta found themselves on a street full of people. Quickly she continued to fly down the street at high speeds, Siesta attempting to hold onto the bag of ingredients.

Once the duo was several blocks away from the store, she set Siesta down on shaky legs. "Let's never go back there."

Siesta only looked at her with fearful eyes. "Agreed."

Glancing down at the blade she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you so much for saving me and my friend's life."

The sword only chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't be the great Lord Derflinger if I didn't care for my partners."

The two girls looked at each other both confused as to what the blade had just said. "Partners?" She questioned making sure that she had heard the sword correctly.

"Of course, pinky." The comment caused a hard glare to appear on her face. "I could feel you when you were but a block away and was alerted when you became ensnared into that spirits trap."

"And how could you feel me?" Louise said in a plain voice.

"Destiny or something. Don't really know, don't really care."

"Uh, huh." Louise turned back to Siesta her scowl gone replaced with a smile. "Are you ready to head back?"

a shocked look appeared on her face before it was quickly replaced with a smile. "If it's not too much of an issue, I would like to Visit with some family at their inn."

She placed her fingers onto her chin as she pondered the maid's request if the sun was anything to go by it was nearing noon meaning that the sun would be beating them down all the way back to the academy. "Sure why not."

xXXXx

Luckily for Louise the inn that Siesta was talking about was only a few blocks away, it wasn't anything to ride home about, but there was a warm atmosphere to it. The tables scattered around the restaurant room were full of people who seemed too happy to care about being hung over.

However, there was currently a giant "man" crushing her in a vice-like hug. Man isn't really an appropriate term for him he stood well over six feet tall and was built like an ox, his arms were that of tree trunks and was sporting small beard and mustache, his hair was slicked back and was the same raven black colour as Siestas.

But everything else about this man screamed weird. First thing of note was his clothing choices, the man was wearing a purple tank top that was a bit too short to stop his midriff from showing, and a set of black shorts way too small for a man of his stature.

"Oh my, you must be the dear noble that rescued my niece, I thank you I thank you I thank you." He said as he attempted to kiss her on the cheek. She quickly brought her hands up and put them and pushed him away.

"Uncle, do you think you can stop crushing her?" Siesta asked.

The man looked at her with a confused expression, before suddenly realizing what he was doing. He quickly let go of the girl causing her to drop to the ground limp. Siesta quickly rushed over to help her friend up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I sometimes forget my strength."

Louise was in a daze as the maid picked her up. "It's fine... with what we dealt with today its nothing"

A new girl, a waist-length raven-haired girl who appeared to be in her late teens. She wore a low cut green maid outfit. in her hands was a tray of food for both Siesta and Louise. "What happened?" She asked setting down the tray at a table near the group.

Sitting down at the table, Siesta recounted their encounter with the strange Illusionary spirit that attempted to capture them and how Louise's new sword had saved them from that situation.

The raven-haired server listens patiently to the story. "And what was the name of the blacksmith"

The sword who was currently listening to the conversation sank deeper into his sheath. "Black anvil smiting guild?"

"You mean the one owned by mister Lawerance?" When no one answered she simply turned "Hey mister Lawrence." The server called out.

"Yes, Jessica." Came a voice that was all too familiar to the girls. Across from them the man they thought was a spirit. The maid gestured for him to come over.

As the man walked over he noticed the two girls sitting at the table. "Ah my latest customers, I was afraid I said something that had offended you when you decided to run off like that. I truly am sorry if I offended you in some form or manner." The man said in a warm voice.

Louise was visibly speechless. "B-b-but Derf had said you were a spirit of Illusion."

"Derf was always known for his practical jokes." The man chuckled

"But what about you killing his partner?" Siesta asked.

"Well if I remember correctly he was sold to me to pay off some guys tab money."

"But what about the ominous feeling I felt when walking through the alleyway?" She countered.

"Well, sometimes when Derf gets mad at me he emits an aura like that to scare away customers."

Her mind was spinning, but she had one last question. "Ok, but why have the entrance to the shop in the alley and the entrance to the house be on the street?"

"Well you see that's an interesting story, seems like the planers screwed up in the building of the house and got it backwards. But they gave me a good price on it. Although I should work on cleaning that place."

She was fuming, that cursed sword had made her spend money on it and then turned to make a fool out of itself. Reaching down she pulled it out of his sheath and tossed him onto the table. "Derf!" The sword said nothing as if it was asleep. "Guess I'll go find the nearest river to drop you in."

"I'm awake!"

"Explain why you told us that this nice man was a spirit of illusion," Louise said glaring at the blade.

"it's not my fault if the guy plays the role so well. He can make fifteen years seem like millennia."

The old man chuckled. "Oh, Derf can be such a jokester at times." The man turned back to the strong owner. "Thanks for the meal Scarron but I truly must be going, someone might visit the shop." The man laughed before turning back to the girls. "Now you take care of Derf you hear, it would be a shame to lose a blade with such personality." He then left, leaving the group alone.

She grit her teeth as she looked back down at the sword. "Just to be clear, if not for that man's words you would be at the bottom of a moat." The sword's only response was to somehow audibly gulp.

xXXXx

 **Grand church of the founder.**

 **Deep within the western mountains of Albion.**

A Figure wearing a long-beaked bird mask and heavy dark blue robes that covered his entire body was hunched over a boy who looked to be around twelve in age who was laid out on a piece of cloth in the dark church basement.

The room stank of death and disease as all around him, the people affected by the great plague began dying off. You could believe that he was the only person alive in the entire room, if not for the pained groans and faint mutters for salvation, from the people who were in the process of being liquefied.

"May God ever watch over this young one as the spirit of Brimir guides him to return to the holy void from which all life comes from and returns to." The masked man lifted his head before using his hands to shut the boy's eyes.

This was the home of one Arch Bishop Cromwell, the figurehead of the rebellion against the crown. A role that was forced on him when he stood up against the papacy. He had initially rejected this role when rebelling nobles gave it to him, but after seeing the hope he gave to his people, who took it in stride

"Father Cromwell, the people are ready for your sermon." Came the muffled voice of a young boy.

The man picked himself up before heading to the door of the dark room. "Then let us not keep them waiting." After exiting the room, the two people took off the gear, ravelling the archbishops long blond hair and tired eyes. He had been down in the cellar for several hours performing the last rights to the countless dead that laid in that room.

handing it to water mages to purify. Walking up the stairs to the main room, Cromwell seemed to notice something troubling the younger boy. "What is wrong my child."

The boy turned away a moment seemingly attempting to find the proper words. He stopped on the staircase "Father our situation is looking grim, is this truly the creators will?"

"The creator works in mysteries ways, we can't possibl-"

"I know that father!" he shouted. "That boy that you were giving last rights too. He was from the smith family, a family that was devout to the various gods that govern the land as well as the creator. So why would he take him away?" He pleaded

He let out a tired sigh as he closed his eyes. "You are starting to have doubts."

"I know that we need to trust the gods to guide us through this troubled time." His hands clenched into fists. "But our people are dying by the day, how are we supposed to remain faithful when it looks as if the gods have turned their back on us."

"I've been asking myself that question for a bit." the boy looked shocked. "But I always remember Brimir."

"Brimir?"

"Do you think he was infallible? That he never once questioned the gods that gave him his power? When the elves were rampaging across the lands killing humans do you think he didn't question the gods, asking why the gods would let there chosen people be slaughtered?" the boy stared at him for a moment in shock. "Because he did, but he didn't let his faith waiver, and in the end, his unbending will saved the human race from the elven menace."

"I think I get what you mean father. In this trying time we must uphold the unyielding image of Brimir."

A smile grew on his old face as the boy finally got it. "Indeed, now let us tend to the flock."

They walked up the stairs, reaching a large sturdy wooden door designed to stop fires from spreading. He reached out and pushed it open allowing him to see his flock as they sat in the dimly lit cathedral.

He slowly made his way to the main aisle and began to walk towards the podium at the end of it. All around him were people clad in bright grey cloaks, representing the wind spirits they worshiped.

Every person he glanced at looked as if they were grieving. He kept his head up, he had to stay strong for the people that looked to him.

He soon arrived at the podium, taking his place, he gazed out to the people whose lives have been fundamentally changed by the plague and quarantine. "My children." The priest started causing the people to begin to look up at him.

"This plague that has claimed so many of our friends and family members, the same plague that has caused the papacy to confine us to this fate." Cromwell paused as the words he had just said sank into the crowd

"Fear not, for we may have found a solution. Currently, we have several mages on the mainland attempting to force the hand of Tristian and make them withdraw their support of the quarantine and perhaps allow the healthy to leave this death trap." The mood in the small crowd of people seemed to brighten up.

"But we must pray for the founder to lend him his strength." Closing his eye's Cromwell began to utter a prayer that was mimicked by the crowd. "May the ever-watchful eye of the void guide and watch over our warriors as they attempt to deliver us from this strife and into the arms of salvation. Creator guide us."

xXXXx

 **A/N**

 **This is probably one of my favourite chapters in the original, so I didn't change much, only really changing the ending which I felt was rushed in the original.**

 **Anyways thanks for the support and I hope to read your feedback in the reviews.**

 **Have a good day.**


	4. Chapter 4: Return to the academy

It had been a few hours since they had left the inn. The two girls wandered around town for a bit allowing the sunlight and heat to slowly dissipate in order to spare the horses from the midday heat. So, with it nearing supper time and the town now encased in twilight, the two girls decided that it was time to leave Tristain, but when they had attempted to leave they were denied access to the main road through the gate. She was about to yell at the commoner guard when she noticed why it was closed.

An ivory coloured carriage pulled by a set of unicorns which almost certainly contained the princess passed in front of her, leaving the city."Henrietta," Louise murmured as memories of when they were young dashed through her head. Playing imaginary royal court, running around trying to catch bugs, Cardinal Mazarin yelled at them for that but not as loudly as the time he found fire salts in his underwear. She let a small chuckle escape her lips. For being raised by her mother, who by all accounts was the definition of strict, she sure did act like a tiny deviant.

'But does she even remember me?' That single thought caused her smile to disappear, replaced with a scowl. Of course, she wouldn't remember her she's a full-fledged princess, she is too busy to remember a nobody like her "I wonder where she's going," she asked no one in particular.

"I think she's heading to the academy," Siesta said smiling, causing her to look at her with a confused expression.

"What do you mean?" She briefly wondered how a maid could be more informed than her.

Siesta's smile faded. "You of all people should know, Louise." When she didn't say anything, Siesta continued, "Tomorrow is the Familiar Showcase."

With that simple sentence, her mind was thrown into a flurry of thoughts each vying to be heard. Had she really forgotten about the showcase? She didn't even have anything planned, She began to hyperventilate. "Henrietta is going to be there," she said in a small voice between breaths.

She apparently heard her muttering because she asked, "What was that, Louise?"

She turned to face the maid before grabbing her by the shoulders, causing Siesta to wince slightly from the grip. "The princess is coming to the academy to view our familiars and I don't even have a plan as to what I'm doing!" She shouted wide-eyed at the maid.

"I mean do you really need a plan with your suit," the maid said, apparently attempting to console the mage.

The mage pondered this. It was true that she didn't really need a plan if she could just use the camouflage and impress the crowd with her new-found skill. She could probably even get Tabitha to shoot ice at her or something to show off the armour. Her breathing slowed as she formulated a plan; her familiar wasn't some mindless beast like all the other students' familiars. She was in complete control of this familiar.

But she needed to be at the academy in order to do these things. She walked up to the guard who was still blocking off the road. "Excuse me but I need to return to the Tristain Magic Academy."

He scowled at her. "The gate is closed for the next hour. Now get lost."

She glared at the man, narrowing her eyes. How dare this simple guard block her. She could easily pass the man with her camouflage but what about Siesta? She couldn't just leave her here. She was a simple maid, but over the past week, she had proven to be a good friend.

She was broken from her musing when she tapped her on the shoulder. Turning she saw Siesta, a nice gentle smile on her face. Silently the maid nodded as if telling her to go for this. she returned the smile before running off to a break between the buildings where she was out of sight. She took a deep breath before calling her mask down.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

With that single thought, her body disappeared from sight. Looking at her arms to make sure that she had gone invisible, she found that they were completely see-through causing another smile to creep up on her face. Glancing back over to the guard, she slowly made her way back to him, trying to conserve as much energy as possible.

Once next to the man, she crouched down, beginning to feel the power well up in her legs. In an instant, she uncoiled, launching herself upward high above the guard. A moment later she landed, the suit silencing her landing. She looked back at the guard, making sure she wasn't spotted. Seeing that the man hadn't noticed anything, she took the opportunity to dash through the open gates.

She made it several hundred feet before her suit's energy reserves finally died out, causing her to become visible again. Turning back around she gazed at the city. In the distance, the castle where she had spent so many of her summers playing with the Princess was now glowing a beautiful orange colour' the town beneath was similarly coloured.

"Now that is new," the sword on her hip spoke, breaking her trance.

Scowling she looked at her sword. "What was that?" she asked harshly.

"You weren't really what I was expecting when it came to being my partner; I mean turning invisible, and here I was thinking you were some common swordswomen." The sword chuckled. "Well, it's good to be back in the hands of an elf." What did this sword just say?

she could feel a wave of anger wash over her; this sword had thought she was a Founder damned elf, the creatures that they'd been at war with for millennia. "I'm not an elf!" She shouted, shaking with anger.

"If you're not an elf then how did you pull off turning invisible without a wand?" the sword asked inquisitively.

How oblivious could this sword be? "My magical suit obviously."

"If you say so," the sword simply stated before slipping back into its sheath

As she turned back to the road, a sudden thought filled her head; she had forgotten the horse. Turning back to the town she saw the stable where they had left the horses and sure enough, there was a guard detail blocking her path to the stables. She doubted that her camouflage would extend to the horse she was on.

She had to get to the academy before curfew so she could plan, but it would be difficult without a mode of transport. Turning she began to jog down the road silently hoping that her suit would empower her stamina long enough to make it back to the academy.

xXXXx

A few miles ahead of Louise was the unicorn-drawn ivory carriages. Before and after were two pairs of the best knights Tristain had to offer. They wore large suits of iron armour and carried sword wands at their hips. The guards would occasionally glance around but all in all, it was a relaxed atmosphere.

Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was seemingly the same. Sitting inside was a young woman whose hair was purple in color and cut short. Her eyes were as blue as the water her magic commanded, and the gown she wore was an immaculate shade of white.

On the outside, she appeared calm, as if this trip to the local magic academy was a simple appearance to the future nobles of the various kingdoms, but internally she was stressed due in part to the uncertain times that the world had found itself in.

It all started a little bit after the plague sank its teeth into Albion. Her father left to go perform an inspection of his troops that were currently patrolling Albion. The ship he was on got caught in a storm that caused the ship to crash on the Island. The crash site was later found, but neither he or the crew were ever found him.

She and her mother had hoped that he had survived. But as time passed, and news of his survival refused to show up, that hope slowly faded. Now her mother was a husk of the women she once was, content with simply eating, sleeping, and sitting in the throne room.

It was to the point where she didn't even attend the royal court anymore. So Henrietta was forced into her mother's stead, sitting in on the debates between noble families, as to who would get to decide what.

It was those days, where the arguing eventually degraded into name calling, that Henrietta had wanted to return to the child she once was, playing pretend royal court with her best friend, Louise. Running around the garden getting dirty, sneaking out of the castle to explore the town, they were always caught by Louise's mother but they didn't care; that sense of exploring, and seeing new things had always appealed to the princess.

But as she got older and the responsibilities started to pile up, she found herself with less and less freedom. She found herself missing her friend more and more.

But she was going to see her friend. She hadn't heard much from her friend in the past few years since she had entered the academy, but she had it on good authority that she had been having difficulty when it came to her magic, as such she was worried; naturally if she was as prideful as she was when they were kids then there was cause to be concerned.

But her friend wasn't the only person she was thinking about, no there was one other person who worried her, Prince Wales.

"You really shouldn't scowl like that princess," a voice said breaking Henrietta from her musings. She glanced over at the other person in the carriage. Cardinal Mazarin was the current leader of the country in every way except name until she was seen to be fit enough to take the crown. He was an older man, looking to be in his late fifties or early sixties if his snow-white hair was anything to go by. He wore a long blue robe that covered his entire body.

"We're alone in a carriage, with the only things surrounding us being trees and shadows," she reasoned.

The man frowned. "But you still need practice, you must always be prepared to face the people, and to frown like that is unbe-"

She rolled her eyes "Unbecoming of a princess, yes Cardinal, I remember when you told me the other hundred times," the princess stated.

"You must understand the importance then. These are uncertain times, my lady, and the people will need a person to look up to in times like these for guidance,"

"Then does that not give me the right to be worried when I'm alone?"

The man let out a tired sigh. "That is the burden of royalty, to not be allowed to show one's true emotion. Your parents and their parents before them hat-"

Henrietta drowned out the rest of what the man across from her was saying and returned to looking outside the carriage. Her mind soon returned to the person whom she worried about, Prince Wales. Before the quarantine of Albion, they had spent many a summer together in each other's arms, they had loved each other, and their parents had known it too.

After he had left last summer, she had heard rumours that both their parents were in talks. Originally she was fearful that they would separate the two, but she later learned that they were talking about arranging a marriage between the two.

She was so happy when she had learned of this and quickly wrote a letter informing her Prince Wales of the news. She soon received a letter from him saying that they should start planning. And that they did; they had chosen the lake in southern Tristain, known for being the water spirit's domain.

And truth be told, it was going so well that the wedding was scheduled for the following summer during the summer solstice. But before any of that could happen, the plague showed up. It wasn't so bad at the beginning; she had heard that the Albionese soldiers had quarantined the town where the plague was first seen, and been in the process of dealing with it the same way they had dealt with plagues in the past, ending with the destruction of Saxe-Gotha.

Or it should have, a few weeks later, another town reported the plague; the healthy were taken from their homes and the rest were burned with the town. But in the following weeks, the plague kept popping up no matter how many times they tried to get rid of it.

It was at this point that the call to quarantine the island was issued by the pope. Every other country was in a panic after seeing that their conventional means of dealing with sickness had proven fruitless. Everyone, including Germania, pitched in troops to patrol the skies blockading Albion. She knew why they needed to do this, but she missed her prince.

"Princess, are you listening?" Henrietta glanced back at the man across from her indicating that she wasn't listening. "That is something else we need to work on. Princess, you shouldn't tune people out like that. Not only is that rude, but in the world of politics, you must be ever vigilant. Why when I was your age, I woul-"

Henrietta returned to gazing out the window. She had to admit, the orange glow of the sun seeping through the trees was beautiful. A smile crept up on her face, she found it somewhat funny that for a princess with the world at her fingertips, the thing that made her smile was something as simple as a nice view.

She continued to watch the forest pass by, as thoughts of her friend, and prince danced through her head. As the carriage continued down the road, Henrietta noticed something amiss in the trees, there seemed to be a someone lurking in the shadows, observing them. As if alerted to being spotted the man ran off into the woods.

"Wha?"

"Princess, did you tune me out again?" the man said in a harsh tone.

"Did you see that man?" Henrietta said turning to the cardinal

The cardinal turned to the window only to be met with a view of passing trees. "There is no one out there princess."

"I know what I saw."

"It's just the shadows playing tricks on your eyes," the cardinal said turning back to view the princess.

She looked at him speechless, had she been affected by stress to the point where she was imagining things? No that couldn't be it; she knew what she was a man out there. "I know what I saw cardinal." She repeated "There was a man watching us,"

The man was shocked but quickly regained his composure. " You are simply stressed, with all that is going on, it was bound to affect you. Perhaps a nap would do you well."

She glared at the man. She knew it was useless; the cardinal never took her seriously. In the time that she has been under his guidance, as she prepared to assume the throne, he had listened to none of her suggestions; no one did, not the court, not the cardinal, not even her own mother. "Fine, I'll take a nap,"

She was about to close her eyes when a horse's cry of pain was followed by a scream. Alerted to a threat, she looked out the window in an attempt to see what had happened, when she felt the entire carriage begin to tip.

Before she was able to grab anything, she felt herself fall towards the wall, as the carriage fell onto its side. Henrietta landed on her back with a soft thump. The cardinal was less fortunate however as he landed on his shoulder with a sickening crack.

Henrietta slowly picked herself up, her head spinning. Outside the carriage, the sound of battle was clear as her knights fought back against whatever was attacking them. Placing a hand on her head in an attempt to settle the dizziness that she felt, she glanced over to where the cardinal lay. She heard pained groans as the man held his shoulder.

Moving over to the cardinal, Henrietta attempted to examine his shoulder, but the man's shirt was in the way. Pulling out her wand, Henrietta used her water magic to make a small cut at the shoulder of his shirt, allowing her to tear the shirt more easily. Looking more closely at the wound, she found that it was dislocated.

She started to mutter an incantation in order to help him but was stopped when his hand reached out and grabbed her arm. "Princess, you must leave. Escape while our knights fight." She simply shook her head, she was afraid of what was to come, but she wouldn't cower, not at this moment where she could prove herself.

"You foolish girl!" The cardinal was about to continue when the two realized that they no longer heard the sound of fighting outside. The two waited with bated breath, waiting to see what would happen.

The sound of footsteps could faintly be heard through the carriage walls, Both of them held their breath as the sound got closer before it stopped entirely. Time seemed to slow down for Henrietta as she waited for whoever was out there to act. In a single moment, several fingers of dirt pierced the top of the carriage before ripping it off.

On reflex, Henrietta brought up an arm in an attempt to shield her eyes from the daylight that flowed into the carriage.

As she adjusted to the light, she felt something wrap around her body and left arm, it pulled her out of the wreck of a carriage. Her eyes soon adjusted, allowing the princess to take in her surroundings. She found herself several feet above the ground in the grasp of a giant earth golem.

She struggled in the golem's grip; after several moments she finally relented. Looking around, she found the bandits currently in the process of piling her guard's bodies on the side of the road.

Her driver and the cardinal were the only ones to have survived the encounter and were currently on their knees, a tall brutish looking bandit walking around them as his men tied them up. Turning her head she saw what appeared to be a hooded woman. The only feature that the princess could see was her smirk.

xXXXx

Louise was angry. She had been running for the past hour in hopes of returning to the academy when she heard the noise of battle ahead of her. This threw her into a bit of a panic. Knowing that the princess was up ahead on the road, she picked up the pace in fear for the princess' safety.

She went from a jog to a sprint, the suit empowering her running to a point of almost ludicrous speed until her suit alerted her to the threats in front of her. Stopping for the moment, she looked around, before finding a branch that would allow her to gaze upon the trail up ahead and where she currently sat.

Using her tactical visor, was able to scan the battlefield, and what she saw enraged her. The royal guard tasked with protecting the royal family, lay dead, their bodies were being piled on the side of the road by several bandits armed with swords and muskets. The pristine ivory carriage that she had seen so many times before was tipped over by a pillar of dirt stood on the road, but no matter where she looked she couldn't find the princess.

 _ **MAJOR ENERGY BUILD UP DETECTED.**_

She turned her head only to see an earth golem begin to rise from the ground. With a swift motion, the giant earthen creature's hand wrapped around the top of the carriage before quickly ripping it off. The golem reached in and pulled out Henrietta struggling in the golem's grip.

She felt anger begin to wash over her. Whoever dared to harm the princess was going to pay. Continuing to watch the golem as it placed the princess on the ground next to two other people, she pulled out her bow, preparing it for the coming action.

 _ **NEW OBJECTIVE: RESCUE**_ _ **HENRIETTA, DISPATCH THE BANDITS.**_

She saw the text flash in the center of her vision and couldn't agree more; her friend needed her. She was no longer the Zero and she would prove it. A small white diamond appeared on top of Henrietta, she continued to look around marking all the bandits with her suit causing red outlines to appear around all thirteen of them, but something was off about the last three, she hadn't been able to see them as they were behind the foot of the golem but all of them had an extra piece of info attached to them.

The group consisted of one female and two males, the female was shown to have what the suit described as a level four energy signature while the other two both showed level three. Perhaps it had something to do with magic?

She shook her head. Now was not the time to be questioning her suit; she had to save Henrietta. Pulling her bow off her back she adjusted the draw weight; during practice it had been set to the lowest weight, but with the battle having taken place several hundred feet away, she needed the extra range, setting it to the medium setting might give her the range, but would it have the power to do anything?

She continued to gaze down at the bow before switching it to the highest draw weight. Pulling an arrow from her quiver she slid it into the bow before attempting to pull back on the string, she let out a grunt as she put all of her strength into pulling the string back.

Slowing her breathing, she levelled the bow, her target was a young man, currently standing with his back on the flipped carriage, a musket at his side. He was currently talking with two other bandits, both male and both wielding sword and shield. she slowed her breathing as she made final adjustments. Breathing out she let go of the string, allowing the arrow to take flight. It hit the man in the throat, the power that the arrow carried was so great that it caused him to fly back before being impaled into the carriage.

She was astonished at the bow's power but quickly recovered. The power was way too much for what she needed, but it was too late to change it. Taking another arrow from her quiver, she pulled back on the string, readying the arrow. The men that were talking were now running alongside the carriage in hopes of making it to the other side to shield themselves. Targeting one, she fired the arrow, but his erratic movements caused her to miss her mark hitting him in the lower back. The power of the bow threw the man forward causing him to fall face first onto the ground. His loud cries of agony could be heard even from where she was.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

She hopped down from the tree and quickly ran around the battlefield through the forest as shouts could be heard from the panicked bandits. Reaching a new position behind a tree at the bandit's flank, she decloaked allowing her energy stores to fill back up. Gazing around the tree, she found that the bandits were still looking toward her last position giving her a clear shot at everyone. But she also got a good look at her princess; she was crouched over her eyes tightly shut as if trying to block out the world.

She sat down behind the tree, taking the time to lower the draw weight on the bow. The screams of agony from the second bandit she hit were now nothing but murmurs. The thing that she was focusing on was the three people who were hidden from sight before.

Taking a closer look at them, she had no doubt that they were mages. Unlike the bandits that were currently cowering behind debris, the three wore no armour. Instead, wearing cloaks in order to hide their identity. Their weapons were also different; the female held nothing but a wand, an indication that she was the one in control of the golem. The two males, on the other hand, held sword-wands.

She had to get rid of that golem, it would be the biggest hurdle in saving the princess. Slowly she pulled out another arrow placing it on the bow before pulling back on the string. She levelled the bow to the women's head. Exhaling she let go of the string. But as the arrow sailed through the air, one of the men pushed the women causing it to simply graze her cheek.

"Over there, shoot him!"

Several muskets shots flew by her position. She looked around the tree only to see the golem pick up Henrietta while the women and the man that saved her life rode atop the golem. She internally cursed. If she hadn't switched the draw weight, the woman would have been hit by the arrow. a brief moment of clarity hit her, it was as if the red blinders that had been clouding her vision disappeared why was she fine with ending these peoples life? She was always squeamish when it came to death, so why she was fine with it now?

 _ **THE BANDITS ARE ESCAPING.**_

The suit was right; she could worry about that later. Leaving her cover, she rushed the bandits taking out another three before finally reaching the battlefield. Holstering her bow, she unsheathed Derf who let out a squeal of joy about being used. A large, brutish, sword-wielding bandit attempted to rush her down.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOR.**_

The bandit swung wide allowing her to simply block it with her arm before plunging Derf into the man's gut. Grabbing the man's sword from his still warm hands, she threw it with extreme precision, hitting one of the bandits that had attempted to flee. As she pulled Derf out of the man, the body fell to the ground. She attempted to turn towards the rest of the bandits, only to be hit by several musket balls and what appeared to be a flame spell. The recoil from this attack was great enough to toss her off her feet and into the tree behind her.

Gazing at her energy supply she noticed that there was only ten percent left. turning off the armour, she sat there, in her vision was the golem walking away with the princess but she was currently helpless, she didn't want to risk getting shot.

The bandits soon moved forward, the mage sitting in the back of the group seemingly still wary of her. she continued to feign injuries in order to lure them closer as she came up with a plan of action.

The three non-mage bandits walked up to her, their muskets at the ready to fire.

"Founder, what is this thing?"

"Don't know, looks like something parents would use to scare their kids."

"Doesn't matter. He killed our buddies," the second one said, venom soaking his voice

"Boss, what do you want us to do with it?" the third man said, poking her with the tip of his musket.

"Get away from it, you three. We don't know if he is truly out of the game." The mage said.

The three people turned away to face the mage. "He's dead or at the very least knocked out, not even an orc is able to simply shrug off that much ordinance."

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER.**_

She sprung to her feet, swinging her fist at the closest bandit. The sickening crack of bones could be heard throughout the field. Turning her attention to the bandit to her right, she brought Derf down from overhead, impacting the man at the shoulder and cutting through him like butter before coming to a stop halfway down his torso. Letting go of her sword, she yanked the musket from the man's hands, grabbing it at the end of the barrel. Turning to the bandit in the middle, she swung the musket like a club, knocking the guy to the ground, blood seeping from where the musket's stock hit him.

Flipping the musket around she took aim at the mage, who was stunned with shock. The hammer came down as she pulled the trigger, causing the black powder inside to ignite with fury sending the ball soaring through the air before being blocked by a torrent of fire. Gone was the man's shocked look, now replaced with one of fear.

"I'm not some common bandit boy." He told her attempting to fake confidence.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGE.**_

She snuck around the man while he looked frantically for her. "Fuck! where did it go?" the man shouted as he looked around for her. was behind him at this point. Raising her leg, she brought it down on the back of the man's knee, causing him to fall to his knees, she proceeded to grab the man's chin and the back of his head before quickly twisting, snapping the man's neck causing his body fall to the ground in a pile of limbs.

Grabbing Derf from the bandit's body, she walked over to the two other hostages. One she recognized as the royal cardinal, but the other she didn't. Ignoring that she cut them both free. As she turned to go deal with the golem she felt something grab her hand. Turning her head, she saw the cardinal, a pained expression on his face as his other arm hung limp. "You must save the princess; our queen has been so distraught after the loss of her husband. If she were to lose her daughter..." She simply nodded at the cardinal before running off in the direction of the golem.

She needed to be fast; the white diamond was still placed on where the suit thought the princess was but if her suit was right it was over half a mile away at this point. she ordered the power to her legs allowing her speed to increase, even faster than before, the forest around her transformed into nothing but a blur. "So, what's the plan?" The sword on her hip asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused by the question.

"Well, you've seen how big that golem is, how do you plan on defeating it."

"Well I. uh" She really didn't have a plan at this point, how was she going to take out that golem, it was huge.

"Well if you're willing to listen to an old sword like me I have a plan." She looked down at the sword allowing him to continue. "You see I may look like a normal sword, but can absorb magic, you throw me at the golem's hand and I can turn it back to being a useless pile of dirt, you catch the princess and me and then run off to save the day." She let out a tired sigh, it wasn't the best plan but at least she had something.

After several minutes of running, she could see the golem. Holding Derf in a reverse grip she prepared to throw him. After a few more moments, she reeled back her arm.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER.**_

She threw the sword and watched as it cut through the wind the mage summoned allowing the sword to embedded itself in the golem's wrist. The effects were immediate; the golem became more sluggish, and the women powering it seemed to be straining more to keep the golem going.

After several moments, the hand of the golem began to break apart, she could hear the mages cursing from the top of the golem before a loud scream overpowered it. The source was the princess as she fell from the golem's hand.

Rushing over, Louise caught her just before she hit the ground. Setting her down,Louise reached up to catch the falling Derf and slide him into his sheath, before picking up Henrietta bridal style and running back towards the road.

The sword on her hip was laughing like a madman. "That's a good arm on ya girly; haven't felt that alive in years."

She scowled at the sword from behind her mask. "It's always either" girly" or "pinky"; you know I have a name, right."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Lacey. Wait, Lassy, no that's not right, Lori?"

She couldn't say the name, not with the princess in her arms. "Just drop it ok."

Henrietta mind was in overdrive, she was just captured by the bandits when she was rescued by what she had assumed to be a tiny male until she heard the voice. It was female, but more than that, she recognized it. She couldn't name where she had heard that voice before but she knew it.

"My lady!" a voice shouted causing her to turn towards the source of the voice. They had made it back to the to the road. The bodies had been cleared, but the blood of both the bandits and the knights covered the road.

The cardinal sat by the overturned carriage while the driver calmed the unicorns down. She slowly let the princess go, allowing her to stumble to her feet.

The cardinal attempted to stand up but was stopped when She raised her hand. "Your shoulder is dislocated." The princess went about attempting to treat it.

But as all this was going on, She simply stood at the edge of the road, gazing out at where she had murdered everyone. She wasn't going to beat around the bush, as that's what she had done. But the thing was that she didn't feel anything, no regret, no remorse.

She had taken these people's lives so why wasn't she feeling anything? She began to clench her fists. She had always heard the stories her mother's friends told about taking a life, and how hard it was. But here she was, standing at the sight of her first true battle and she felt nothing, was she a monster, a person who can shrug off killing people because it suits her interest? But something else was pulling at Louise, the way she fought.

She had never held a sword or thrown a punch; her mother never had time to teach her those things, so how did she know how to do those things? It was as if the suit was moving on its own.

"We need to keep moving. The bandits are going to be back any minute." The cardinal's voice broke her from her musings. Henrietta had healed the cardinal's shoulder as best as she could.

"The carriage is tipped and all the knight's horses fled." the driver told the other two.

"But the knights, they died protecting me. We must give them a proper burial!" the princess shouted.

"I know that you care for the welfare of your knights, but there may be more bandits. The academy is but a twenty-minute journey. Princess, please listen to reason."

She walked over to the tipped over carriage and crouched down. Sliding her hands under the carriage, she slowly extended her legs, lifting the carriage until it was upright. Walking over to the door, Louise simply opened it and motioned for the princess to get in. She reluctantly complied getting in, with the cardinal following her.

Turing to leave, she was stopped by the cardinal's voice. "Humble knight, our guard has been killed and we still have a bit of a journey left." Weighing her options, she climbed into the carriage. The rest of the trip to the academy was done in silence.

xXXXx

 **Royal castle of Gallia**

The room Tabitha found herself in was one blanketed with darkness; only the small glow of a candle on a desk she currently kneeled at was visible.

"Ceph tech you say?" A small nod confirmed this. "Fascinating, a Ceph suit designed for humans. And who did you say summoned it."

"Louise de la Valliere, Your Majesty."

Joseph sighed. "You know how I feel about that, Charlotte."

"Charlotte is dead sir; she died on Skerry with her family."

He was saddened by this display. Charlotte was such a wonderful child to be around not three years ago, now here she kneeled a hollow shell of what she once was. "You remember my promise, right?" She nodded. "Because I plan to keep it. Now, what can you tell me about the mage?"

"Failure with conventional magic, explosive results. Perhaps void mage like you."

The man scratched at his beard. a void mage summoning Ceph tech. Very interesting. perhaps it would be wise to get Sheffield to look into Tristian royal lines. "What is it capable of?"

"Enhanced strength, speed, cloaking, and armour. Was able to take a hit from a troll's axe without flinching."

Very interesting indeed. "Tabitha, I thank you for reporting it to me. I need you to return to the academy and keep an eye on her; that suit might be what we need in order to survive the invasion." But Tabitha refused to move.

Tabitha slowly got up and walked away leaving Joseph alone in the dark room. "Sheffield!" Joseph shouted prompting a woman clad in a brown and blue cloak to enter the room.

"Yes, my lord," Sheffield said before bowing.

"I need you to find information on the Tristinian royal bloodline as well as anything you can find about a young girl, Louise de la Valliere."

"It will be done at once my lord." With that, she departed, leaving Joseph alone in the room.

xXXXx

A/N

So again, I didn't really need to change that much this time around as most of this was pretty good, to begin with.

Also, I need to correct my A/N in chapter three where I stated Louise's max speed in the nanosuit. The author of Crysis legion in an interview stated that a Nanosuit 2 user is able to outsprint a cheetah in short bursts.

taking this into account she is a fast girl.

I have a fun fact about her bow but bear with me I have to explain something about the suit. The muscle fibre that snakes around the suit is made out of carbon nanotubes. These act as the suits muscles enhancing the strength of the person wearing it, on top of maximum power mode. now it's hard to say how much this amplifies the suits strength but the two generally accepted numbers are ether two times the strength or TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY TIMES, very big gap here but, who knows it gives me a lot of ley way with what Louise can do strength wise.

Now I can't really say which is correct, I've done research but turned up arguments for both sides. But considering that in-game Prophet/Alcatraz can kick around cars like its nothing, or simply rip steel beams apart with there bare hands, I'm guessing that it couldn't simply be six times their strength.

Now, why am I telling you this it has nothing to do with the bow. but all of this does.

The bow in game has three different draw weights that you can choose from, light medium and heavy. now the interesting thing about heavy is that it is said to be at the upper limits of what the suit can handle. meaning that the draw weight she used to impale that man is somewhere around SIX THOUSAND POUNDS.

Anyways enough rambling. Have a great day everyone, and let me know what you think in the reviews.


	5. Chapter 5: A little help

Kirche was bored. Her best friend, Tabitha had left the school on business a few days ago, but that wasn't the reason for Kirche's boredom. It was normal for her friend to disappear from time to time. She was bored due to the fact that today was the day that the Princess was supposed to visit the academy since she was going to be the one to judge the familiars tomorrow, and therefore, the entire school was called upon to greet the Princess, with the students arranged in two rows along both sides of the main road to welcome her carriage. She was supposed to arrive forty minutes ago.

Kirche herself stood at the end of one of the two rows, near her fire instructor, Professor Colbert. But one thing confused Kirche. Louise wasn't here. No one else was as proud of their country as Louise. It was almost scary in a way. So why wasn't she attending? Kirche thought back to that morning when she saw Louise leave with that maid who had been orbiting her for the past week, with their destination most likely being the capital of Tristain. Kirche let out a sigh; truly she was lucky for having both Louise and Tabitha to at least keep things at the academy interesting.

"Oh, Founder!" A girl's cry broke Kirche from her musings. Looking up Kirche saw what caused the girl's outburst. The carriage had finally arrived, but it was unlike any royal carriage she ever saw, for one the roof of the carriage looked as if it had been ripped off; the wheels were all off center; the glass on the side was shattered; and the white coats of the unicorns drawing the carriage appeared to have stained with blood.

All around her everyone seemed to be whispering the same things.

"What had happened?"

"Where was the guard?"

"Is the Princess all right?"

The people around her seemed increasingly tense as the carriage continued to roll forward. Even the teachers seemed tense.

The carriage soon rolled to a stop in front of the school faculty. Time seemed to slow as the door to the carriage opened. And then Louise emerged, splatters of red on her armour. The confusion in the courtyard was palpable as they watched Louise exit the carriage before turning to offer her hand to the princess.

The princess was another matter entirely. Her white gown was in tatters; both it and her face were marred with dirt. An older man followed the princess, his clothes in a similar state of ruin, but the notable thing about this man was that one of his arms was in a sling.

Seeing this, the faculty rushed forward to help the man and the princess. Louise turned back to the princess and the old man and bowed before disappearing.

Kirche watched the scene in a state of shock, her mind running at a million miles a minute. Questions filled her head. Why was Louise with the princess? Was that blood on her suit? Whose was it? What happened?

"Everyone, return to your dorms this instant." The headmaster shouted, causing the students to begin to disperse. Ignoring everyone, Kirche walked off with Louise's room as her destination

xXXXx

Louise was currently pacing around her room in her freshly cleaned suit, her bow and Derf sat on the table while her helmet rested on the bed. It had been nearly a half hour since she had returned with the princess, the sun was now set and in that time her mind refused to rest. She had initially planned to reveal her worries to Professor Colbert but decided against it when she realized that he would most likely tell others in order to help her.

She could already picture the conversation in her head, she would most likely go to Colbert and ask him for help, he would tell her to take off the suit, then she would have to tell him the reason why, and then he would tell the headmaster who would then tell her father and then. "Oh, Founder."

Louise bit her lip. Yes, that would be the worst possible outcome. This was a problem that she would have to solve on her own, she couldn't rely on the faculty here, the only person she could trust was siesta. She let out a tired sigh, Siesta still hadn't returned and even if she did she doubt she would know much about this.

"You really should calm down; the life of a warrior can be fun."

Scowling she turned towards the unpleasant voice of sword "I'm more monster then warrior Derf, I just killed eleven people and I don't feel anything."

The sword simply chuckled, "Most soldiers would kill to not be affected by combat, you should count yourself lucky pinky." The girl simply glared at the sword.

"I should count myself lucky to be monster? Is that what you're saying?"

"Louise you're hardly a monster. A monster would go out and kill only for the joy of it, you killed to save your princess." She turned away from the sword.

"But what if this is just the first step, what if down the line I turn evil?"

"Then you simply have to make sure that never happens. Dedicate yourself to the life of a warrior."

"Do I even want that, I mean how many of your past partners lived a full life?" Louise asked.

"Well, uh. Let see, Sasha. Wait she killed herself. Oh, there was Patrick, wait he was impaled with an arrow. But then there was Ash-" She tuned him out, she had to find a way to stop the suit from turning her into whatever it was changing her into.

"Oh, yes, George survived her entire life."

"Her?" Louise questioned. "A girl named George wielded you without falling in battle?"

"Mhm. Yep, she was one of my best partners in my six thousand years of existence."

"What did you say just say?"

"Yep, got the name from her father who had wanted a son."

Louise looked at the sword with a perplexed look on her face before it twisted into a scowl. "What? I don't care about that, I am more interested in your age."

The sword said nothing for several moments "You know you're a really rude partner." Louise said nothing and continued to scowl at it. "Yes, I'm six thousand years old." The sword finally replied sounding annoyed. "Although in my time it was considered rude to ask a sword it's age."

Louise sighed. "Well, do you know anything about mind magic?"

"Let me see." The sword hummed. "Mind magic, mind magic." The sword grew silent for several moments as her hope grew. This was a six-thousand-year-old sword so of course, he should know something about mind magic. "Nope, I don't."

She felt her anger begin to build as she began as she began to visibly shake. "Y-y-you really are a useless sword aren't you," She said in an unnaturally calm voice as she slowly approached the blade.

The sword began to fidget in its sheath. "Now now, Louise, let's not do anything the other will regret in the morning," She said nothing as she continued to approach the table, her mouth hung slightly open letting out a small laugh. "Hey stop that you're creeping me out. Remember how I saved the princess."

"I wonder if I melt you down and forge a new blade from the metal, will metal still have the same properties?" She said reaching out to the blade only to be interrupted by a rattling at the door. Glancing back at the blade, they shared a single thought. Someone why trying to break in.

Louise cautiously moved forward, ready for anything or anyone that could be on the other side of that door. Reaching the door Louise slowly reached out, gripping the handle, she let out a breath.

In a sudden motion, she threw the door open nearly tearing it off of its hinges, catching the redhead on the other side off guard. The girl was pulled forward by the door causing her falling into the room "Kirche What are you doing here?"

The redhead picked herself up before looking around. "Huh, I swear I heard the boy in here."

"I'm not a boy." The sword shouted causing a confused look to take over Kirche's face.

"Derf shut it. You speak." She said glaring at the red-headed Germanian.

"Well you see, I saw you with the princess and that old man. So, I decided to try and figure out why a zero like you was with her." Kirche explained as she got up, dusting herself off.

She had to be careful with her next few words. Kirche was known for her gossip, and if it came out that she had a hand in the deaths of eleven bandits then the faculty would surely begin to ask questions. "I simply rescued the princess. As to why I was with her, she needed a guard detail after her's were killed."

It was at this point when she realized that Kirche was no longer in front of her. Turning around she saw her standing over the table gazing down at the rusted sword. "So, thinking about becoming a swordswoman since you lack in magical skill?"

"Were you even listening?" Louise said fuming.

She turned her head towards the young mage. "You say something?" Kirche questioned before Looking back at the sword "I mean if you're serious about becoming a swordswoman I applaud you. But you're going to need something other than this rusted piece of junk."

"Hey!" The sword shouted scaring the girl. "Who you calling a piece of junk, you overburden prostitute." She took a step back clearly in shook. Seeing this Louise had covered her mouth in order to stave off laughing. Kirche glared at the young mage.

"Good to see that you find your swords harassment of me so funny."

Louise quickly regained her composure. "He's just helping me get back at you for the past year and a half." Kirche only continued to glare at Louise.

"Fine, I can take a hint," Kirche said while tossing her arms up defeated and began to leave the room.

But as Kirche walked by Louise, she suddenly remembered why she rushed back here. Reaching out she grabbed the red-heads arm, who turned to look with a confused expression on her face. "You wouldn't happen to know where Tabitha is."

The tanned women gave her a sultry look. "My, my, my Louise, what would your maid think if you were talking with other girls?"

Louise narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, people have started to notice that a singular maid has been seen being the last person to enter your room at night and the first person to leave your room in the morning."

"What?" She mouthed confused for a moment before realization hit her like a giant earth golem.

"Anyway, sorry to burst your bubble but she's not here, she left for Gallia four days ago. She should be back for the festival though."

She felt her anger return as she began to visibly shake once again. "T-t-there I-I-implying, that me and S-S-Siesta, a-a-are seeing each o-o-other."

"Huh?"

She faced Kirche. "Who started that rumour!"

Kirche simple stared at the mage "Some second-year guys. Not really sure myself"

She grabbed the shoulders and began to shake the women in front of her. "Names, give me names."

Kirche sighed. "Louise, let me give you some advice." Louise took a breath before slowly letting go. "When it comes to rumours like these it's best to either ignore it or simply embrace it. Fighting it will only make it look like you are trying to bury the truth."

Louise thought about it for a moment. That did sense but. "How do you know?"

Kirche gave her a sombre look. "You remember how I only entered this school half a year late." She nodded in response. "That was because one of my classmates at the Germanian Magic Academy accused me of sleeping with him when I wouldn't date him."

Louise's mind was in a flurry, had she really misjudged the red-head in front of her that much. "but I thought Germania was more open to that sort of thing?"

"Sure but no matter where you go nobles will still be nobles."

"But, then why are you here?" The tanned girl chuckled.

"Well, my parents understood the rumour but were afraid that when the time came for me to get married no one would want me so they pulled me from the academy." Her gaze sifted to her feet. "That didn't deter them, however, finding me a husband only a few days after I returned home, the man in question was nothing but an old general. He was in his fifties or something. Anyway, I told my parents that I wasn't going to marry this man, they said I didn't have a choice. So, in the end, I just left. Packed my bags and headed for Tristian."

She seemed to think on this for a moment. "Then how did you get into the academy?"

"That was pure luck." She said, returning her gaze to the small girl. "I had just stopped in the border town of Neubruck to rest for the day when I met the headmaster at one of the town's inns. we got to talking and eventually, after a lot of prying he got me to spill my life story. After that he offered to pay my way through school, stating that 'Letting such untapped talent be wasted is a crime.' The girl laughed "Osmond is too nice for his own good."

"But if you have no ties to your family then how are you able to afford all those things?"

The girl let out a small laugh. "Louise, you have to understand; with so many guys vying for my attention, I get lots of presents. I then bring those to town and sell them." She stated as if there was nothing wrong with what she was doing.

"Isn't that a bit cold?" Louise questioned.

She let out a sigh. "Look, Louise, you don't need to agree with me, but I do it so I can remain at the academy. It's not like I know anyone willing to fund my tenor here."

"You could always get a job. You're a triangle fire mage, I'm sure there could be merc-"

"No!" she shouted cutting her off. "Not merc work."

"I still think that you shouldn't rely on scamming the men you flirt with. it's unethical."

She just shook her head as silence took hold before she turning to leave. "Well Louise it's getting late, I should get going." Chuckling to herself she continued. "Founder, I came here in order to figure out why you were with the princess and here I am telling you my life story. Just don't fight the rumours."

"Y... yeah." She watched her as she turned and walked away. "Wait!" She shouted, causing Kirche to turn around confused. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about mind magic, would you?"

"Huh?" Kirche gave Louise an inquisitive look, "That's more water magic, then fire. You should probably ask Montmorency to help you."

"Montmorency, Why her?"

"Well I was going to suggest Tabitha, but like I said she's gone to Gallia." She paused for a moment. "But if I may, why are you so curious about mind magic?" Louise turned away,

"W-w-w-well since you told me about your past, I guess I can tell you about this." She answered sheepishly. "It's this suit. I think it's changing me. Using some form of mind magic to make me a warrior."

"A warrior? Does this have anything to do with you saving the princess?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was returning to the academy when I ran into the princess being attacked by a large squad of bandits. I killed most of them and I didn't feel anything."

"So, you want to see if there is a way to stop this." She nodded. "Then I'll help you," Kirche stated before grabbing her arm, dragging her off.

"Wait, stop. Kirche!" Without another word, She found herself in the hallway, doors passed her by in a blur. In but a moment they were in front of a new wooden door.

"Monmon, open up! We need your help!" Kirche shouted while pounding on the door. On the other side of the door, several sounds could be heard, a small explosion, the breaking of glass, a scream, a person stomping towards the door.

The door flung open revealing a fuming blonde-haired girl, her face almost as red as the Germanian's hair while her normally white academy uniform stained several different colours. Her gaze fixed on the women who most likely caused it. "What do you want, Kirche!"

Kirche pushed Louise in front of her as her smile grew. "Louise needs your help."

The blonde shifted her gaze to the pink haired girl. "Why would the zero need my help?"

She simply sighed. "Montmorency, do you know anything about mind magic?"

The girl scoffed. "What? No of course not it's taboo." Kirche continued to glare at the blonde, who squirmed under her gaze. "Ok maybe I know a bit more than a person should, but why come to me and not, you know go to a library like a normal person?"

Kirche was about to answer when Louise spoke up. "I need to know how to revert mind magic."

"There are books in th-."

"Come on Monmon, those books are centuries old. and on top of that we'll need an excellently skilled brewer in order to make the potion, so what do you say?"

A smug smile formed on her face. "Yes, I guess you're right. Ok, what can I help you with?"

"My su-"

"Louise's suit is affecting her mind, so she was wondering if you would know anything about curing the mind magic." Kirche said cutting off the small girl.

"You mean that suit? The one she is currently wearing? The one that looks like the anatomy drawing in my room." She deadpanned to which the girls nodded. "Alright give me a moment to get changed." She said before closing the door on them. After several moments, the door opened revealing the blond mage in a clean new shirt. "Alright come in." She stated before leaving the doorway, allowing both Kirche and Louise to enter.

She glanced around the room taking in the details. It was much like her own with the exception that there was an alchemy table next to the door with various ingredients, as well as several broken beakers with pools of liquids of various liquids surrounding them. In front of them was a table with four chairs where a small frog sat. "Sit." The blond mage said, in an excited tone while pointing to a chair.

Doing as they were told, They walked over to the table and sat down, as Montmorency went over to her bookcase and began perusing her selection.

An uncomfortable silence grew between the two guests as they realized just how happy Montmorency looked. "You think she seems, a bit too happy about this?" Kirche whispered into Louise's ear.

"Of course, I would be happy about this," Montmorency said as she pulled out a book from the bookcase. "You know how boring it is making simple remedies for the students here. 'Oh, Monmon please make me perfume' 'oh can you please make studying easier' 'help I can't get it up.' It's all so easy, no challenge to find the ingredients, no challenge to make the potion." She spoke with a frown. "But curing mind magic, now that is a challenge worthy of a Montmorency's attention." She grinned.

Turning towards the pair she set the book down on the table before shifting her gaze to Louise. "Now, in order to figure out what antidote I will need to make, I'm going to have to discern what type of mind magic is affecting you."

Louise was confused. "Isn't there only one type of mind magic antidote?"

The blond only chuckled. "Louise, it affects the different parts of the brain. The antidote will need to be tailored the part of the brain that is being affected."

Louise opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself as she began to think out her next few words. "It has something to do with battle. I felt, disconnected. As if my mind and body were disconnected."

The blond hummed in acknowledgment as she pressed her hand to her chin, most likely going over what type of mind magic was at play here. "So, it had to do with battler where you felt disconnected from yourself. Did you feel an uncontrollable rage?"

Louise simply shook her head. "No, I did feel angry, but it didn't seem to affect my tactical judgement."

"So, nothing like a berserk potion." She said to herself. Looking down at the book she began to flip through the pages, most likely in search for whatever currently ails her. "Well, Louise, from what you described it sounds very similar to a portion of soldering."

"What kind of a name is soldering?" Kirche mocked.

"Yeah, it's a pretty terrible name, but it's the closest thing to what Louise had described. Ah, here we are." She said seemingly finding the page. "Hey did you know that the soldering potion was the last bit of mind magic banned by the church?" The girl laughed, "Yeah from what I've read the generals were pretty mad about it considering how it helped prevent combat fatigue."

"The cure Montmorency." Both girls said in unison.

"Fine, fine." After several moments of silence as Montmorency scanned the page, she spoke up. "Well, I got good news. I am only missing one ingredient to create the cure. The bad news is the ingredient that I'm missing is a tear of the water spirit."

"And with all of the tears being sent to Albion were out of luck." Louise surmised.

The blond simply shook her head. "That means we have to go to the source." Reaching back to the bookcase, Montmorency pulled out a large rolled up piece of what appeared to be parchment, shewing her frog off the table, she placed the rolled-up scroll on the table, quickly she unrolled it revealing a map of Halkeginia with various pictures of what appeared to be ingredients, some of which were marked out in a large red X.

"What this Monmon?" Kirche questioned, not sure what to make of the map.

"This is a map that has been in my family for several generations," She pointed down to the various images. "These are locations of rare ingredients for potion making, it's how my family stays ahead of almost everyone else." She announced. "Now water spirits can be found in just about any body of water around Tristian, however the only one that is capable of producing water spirit tears resides in Lagdorian lake. it's about a day's travel to reach the lake from here at which point we will have to contact the water spirit and pray that she gives it to us."

Louise seemed to think it over, the plan seemed concrete. "So, what now?"

"Well we obviously can't leave today since it's already close to curfew, so we'll set out the morning after tomorrow."

The pair simply nodded

"Then this concludes your visit." The blonde said motioning them to the door.

They soon found themselves in the hallway, the silence grew between them. "Hey, Kirche?"

"Yeah."

"Can you light me on fire." Kirche gave the girl a shocked expression.

"Come on Louise, you just got some news that whatever was affecting you. Death isn't the wa-."

"I mean at the showcase." The young mage said cutting off the redhead. "I want to show off my suits armour mode."

Kirche gave the mage a proud smile. "And you want the best fire mage to help you prove the worth of your armour." The young girl nodded. "Sure, I'll help you."

Louise felt a small tug at her lips. "Thanks."

Silence came to reign in the hallway as the two girls came to a mutual agreement, both leaving to head to their respective rooms. Louise soon reached her door finding it slightly ajar. but as she got closer to the door she began to hear some voices. "After she threw me at the golem, I absorbed its magic causing it to let go of the princess."

"Really, to throw from such a distance, and for you to be able to absorb magic." Came the familiar voice of Siesta.

Opening the door, Louise saw Siesta sitting on a chair with Derf propped up on the wall. Siesta stood up and ran over to Louise quickly pulling the smaller girl into a hug. "Oh, Louise I am so happy you are safe. When I saw the bodies on the way back, I was so worried." Louise was taken by surprise at how fast and close the maid got and began to feel her face heat up. "I rushed back to the academy in order to make sure you were all right. I didn't want you to get hurt because of me."

Louise pulled away from the maid and simply gave her a smile. "I'm fine."

Siesta turned away from Louise, "I know it's just... I was the one that told you to come with me, I was the one to tell you to go on ahead."

"You don't need to worry," Louise explained. "Now do you think I could get out of this suit? I wish to sleep."

The maid simply nodded and began to help Louise out of the suit. Once out of the suit Louise felt a wave of fatigue hit her causing her to collapsed backwards on the bed." I'm so tired." The girl said meekly.

Siesta let a small chuckle escape her lips. "I know but you still need to get your nightgown on." Siesta made her way over to Louise's dresser and quickly pulled out a clean nightgown for her mistress. Moving back over to the girl Siesta grabbed her by her near limp arm and hoisted her up, quickly slipping the gown on the girl. With the gown on, Siesta picked up the tiny girl and placed her on the bed before tucking her in.

"Thank... you... Siesta," Louise said before falling to the land of dreams.

xXXXx

 **A/N Well not much changed again, just a few conversations here and there to help hint at Kirche's past and whatnot.**

 **Now next chapter there will be a pretty big change, due to the fact that chapter seven in the original is probably my least favourite chapter. god, I hate it.**

 **Anyways, have a good day, and let me know what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6: Late night assault

The clacking of boots echoed throughout the wind tower. The source of which was coming from the shoes of one miss Longueville otherwise known as Matilda de saxe-gotha.

She had discarded her hood for her normal green and purple dress the only difference between her normal dress was the bandage covering her left cheek.

She had just gotten back to the academy after paying her respects to her fallen comrade, now she with a new goal. She was currently heading to a room in the girl's, more specifically the room belonging to Louise de la Valliere, and she was mad.

She had worked at the academy for the past two weeks after an "Interesting" conversation with the headmaster, letting her take up the job as secretary of the school.

This allowed her to keep tabs on almost anyone. Her job, from father Cromwell himself, was to secure a way for the Albonese people to escape the quarantine.

So, she and her team of informants and combatants went to work, looking for any possible way to alleviate pressure from Albion so that her people could once more live in peace.

Taking her role as the leader seriously, she got to work trying to figure out what she could do. That's when she heard of the princess's plan to visit the academy for the showcase. That's when she got to work.

She had planned the whole heist out. She hired the bandits using the money she stole from the local nobles, she had some of the best mages Albion could spare, so how did it she fail.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was all down to luck. It was her bad luck that caused the Valliere kid to find them yesterday, it was her bad luck that caused her to summon such a powerful familiar, it was her bad luck that caused Harold to die.

She clenched her fists as her mind wandered to yesterday. The princess was just taken from her grasp by that Valliere and her magic consuming sword, so she and her partner gave chase atop her golem, but it was no use.

She couldn't comprehend how but the young girl was able to outrun them. But the most shocking moment of yesterday was when they returned to the road.

There laying on the side of the road next to the bandits she had hired, was her second in command, Harold of Cuxrath, a man best known for his conversion of the wind lance spell, to a fire spell.

He was a genius when it came to fire magic. His thermal lance was known to pierce even the thickest defence structures, with its combination of earth fire and wind. So how did he lose to that girl?

He was the one person she didn't want to die on this mission and now he laid in front of her his head twisted backwards.

The wind mage with her had other questions however, he claimed that the kills were to clean, no move was wasted. His conclusion was that whoever did this was a highly skilled warrior, master with a bow, but Matilda knew the truth it wasn't some man who studied the bow all of his life, it was that Valliere girl with that suit of armour she summoned. Reaching down to the man's body, she searched it for the one thing he had left, that signified his nobility.

A simple blade encrusted with a ruby that had been passed down by his family, it was the last thing he had of his family, the last thing that signified his claim on the land his ancestors were given. But now the Cuxrath noble line had vanished, like so many other Alboniese families.

Matilda found herself at the door of the monster that had killed her most of her group and ended the Cuxrath family. The Cuxrath knife with her, Matilda began to fiddle with the door.

xXXXx

"Pinkie."

Louise was asleep. Enjoying a dream about being back home with her family, in the arms of her older sister.

"Pinkie."

Or, she was trying to but the annoying voice of the blade she bought the day prior proved to grating to be simply ignored. "Mmhm"

"Louise get up!" The sword nearly shouted, causing Louise to stir

"What I'm trying to sleep."

"Louise a person is trying to break into your room."

That caused Louise to shoot awake. "What!" She shouted looking at the sword that currently rested on the table

"Shhh" the sword chided. "They might know you're awake."

Louise paused as a deafening silence surrounded her. She began to calm down slightly as she realized that no noise was being made, not from the door.

A sudden rustling sound came from the door handle as whoever it was, was trying to get in. Louise felt her heart beat in her throat as her breathing became heavy. Louise quickly looked around the room for anything that could help her. Her eyes finally came to rest on her suit, sitting in the corner by the window.

Sweat began to form on her brow as her mind went over what to do. Did she have enough time to get the suit on? No, she didn't.

Quickly leaving the bed, she grabbed her sheath. Only to be surprised with how much the blade weighed.

Gritting her teeth, she summoned whatever strength her drowsy body had and lifted the blade

"Partner your wand, blast them with an explosion when they open the door."

"How did you kno-"

"I just do. Now go and get it."

She looked over to her desk where her wand laid. Running over she grabbed it, just as the door was flung open.

Time slowed down as her body twisted to face the intruder, her arm slowly raised as she began to mutter the simplest incantation she knew.

Her wand glowed a bright blue as she finished the incantation, completing the spell.

An explosion rocked the girl's dorm, as her room was blanketed in a thick layer of smoke.

Coughing she swatted away the smoke that surrounded her. She held her breath as looked in the direction of her door. Had she done it, had she dealt with the intruder?

After several seconds of nothing she began to breath once more, of course, she had done it, those explosions were potent enough to incapacitate her professors so it wa-

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as several pointed rocks flew through the smoke. She raised her blade as fast as possible, using it to shield her face. The rocks impacted her blade.

A sudden pain shot from her wand-wielding arm, it overwhelmed her causing her wand to fall from her hand. She looked to where the source of the pain was coming from, finding a sharp rock embedded in her forearm.

Tears began to form in her eyes as she gazed at the rock in her arm. She looked back finding several dozen pieces of rock sticking out of the wall. The pain faded as her blood ran cold and audibly gulped, was she really this close to death.

A sudden jolt of pain brought her back her back to the present, as she gazed through the smoke finding that whoever was assaulting her hadn't attempted to push forward. She pushed through the pain and quickly moved behind the bed.

Sitting down she placed Derf beside her before focusing on her wound. She grimaced as she brought a hand near the rock. It hovered near the embedded stone, slowly her hand approached it but a burst of pain overcame her on touching it.

"Partner, leave it in, if you were to pull it out you would most certainly bleed out."

"It hurts." Her wavering voice spoke through the tears.

"I know, but we have to deal with the enemy before finding a water mage."

She watched as blood trailed down her arm as she let herself fall back, using the bed to support herself. Was this karma for yesterday, for killing those people with no remorse, did she deserve this for being the monster that she was. She couldn't tell, saying yes, she did deserve this would be simple.

But a voice in her mind told her that she did the right thing, that those people forfeited their lives when they attacked the princess, attacked her friend.

She was pulled from her thoughts, she no longer felt the bed on her back causing her to fall back as the sound of a loud crash filled her room.

She soon found the source of the noise in the form of a giant boulder that had crushed her bed. Her blood ran cold once more, whoever was doing this wanted her dead bad. Was this the earth mage that had escaped from before?

"Louise above you!" Her blade shouted.

Looking up she found a boulder being formed above her. Her body moved on her own quickly jumping out of the way just as the boulder slammed down on where she was sitting. She looked back, finding a hole in the floor where she was just sitting.

She pushed through the pain that was eating at her arm and scrambled to her feet as the room grew silent.

She could hear muffled screams from somewhere in the building, most likely the student body realizing that a battle was taking place.

The pain faded as her mind grew clear, her rapid breathing slowed. She wiped away the tears, Derf was right, she wiped away the tears, she had to deal with whoever this person was.

Her gaze was fixed on where the door should be. sweat poured down her face as she fixated on the fog.

A faint glow pierced the fog. Her mind formulated a plan. Glancing upwards yielded no sign of a rock forming. She concluded that it was going to be another flurry. She rushed forward, to her table, quickly flipping it onto its side just as rocks began to fly out of the smoke.

The plan proved solid as the embedded in the table and protecting her from the onslaught.

The flurry of rocks soon ended, as the sudden sound of rushing boots filled its place.

She stood up ready for the battle, finding a familiar woman hoping over her table dagger in hand ready to stab it into her.

Time slowed once more as the women began to fall towards her, reaching out towards her with the dagger.

She brought up her wounded arm as the dagger lurched forward. Pain filled her world once more as the dagger plunged itself into her hand.

She let out a pained scream as the blade pierced through her hand, allowing her to see the tip of the blade. Tears once again formed in her eyes.

The force of the women was too much causing her to fall backwards, landing with a thud.

She looked up with tear soak eyes finding the school's secretary straddling her chest.

"Wha." She silently asked as she struggled against the weight.

She said nothing as she pinned down her arms with her knees.

Before she could react, she yanked the dagger from her hand causing her to let out a scream, which was muffled by the woman's hand.

"Shhh." The women whispered as she lowered herself closer. "It would have been less painful for both of us if you just stayed asleep."

She struggled as she felt the dagger press against her throat and could only watch in horror as the woman sliced it open.

She attempted to scream, but it came out as a faint gurgle as blood filled her mouth.

The world faded of colour except for the red that was leaving her body.

Weight left her body allowing her to move. On reflex, she brought up, both her hands in an attempt to stem the flow of her lifeblood.

It was of no use. She could feel the blood pouring through her slender fingers, she could feel the warmth run down the side of her neck, she could feel the pool beginning to form beneath her.

The world around lost all meaning, as her body grew cold.

Her mind was in a panic, she didn't want to die not yet, she still had so much to do, she still had to prove herself.

Tears began to run down her face, as she laid on the blood-soaked floor. She pleaded to the gods to help her, to send her salvation, to save her from the death she didn't want.

A light filled her world, as a pair of slender fingers wrapped around the back of her neck.

Her head was turned to face whoever held her neck. A bright light from behind her masked her features, her cold body seemed to grow warm once more.

Was this an angel sent to save her? Did the gods answer her pleads for salvation?

She couldn't really tell, but it didn't matter. She felt safe now, everything was going to be alright.

Her eyes grew heavy as fatigue washed over her. Her eyes slowly closed as the yelling grew louder.

xXXXx

Louise slowly returned to the realm of the waking. Her eyes slowly opened revealing a blurry ceiling, her eyes began to focus as she examined her surroundings. Sunlight poured in from the windows indicated to her that it was sometime during the day.

She looked around finding herself in a strange bed surrounded by curtains. Gazing down at her body, she found herself in a weird bluish gown, her left hand ached in pain and was completely wrapped in bandages.

She suddenly became aware of the weight on her legs. Looking down she found the princess of all people resting her head on her.

What had happened to her? She remembered being in her room after speaking with Monmon about her plan to cure her of the suit but why wasn't she in her room?

The curtain was pulled away revealing a tired version of the same nurse that had taken siesta off of her hands, with a tray of food, water and a small dull red potion in her hands.

She paled as she stared at her. shock, as if she had seen a ghost. "I'm sorry, its just, I didn't think you would be up yet." She walked over and set the tray beside her bed. "You lost a lot of blood, personally I didn't think you would survive."

She attempted to reply only for her voice to die as a hoarse cough took its place. It stung her throat causing her to reach up and began to rub it finding bandages covering it.

"Water." She asked in an equally hoarse voice.

The women grabbed the glass off of the trey and handed it to her who drank it slowly, as she continued to massage her throat.

"What. Happened?" She asked.

She glanced over at the princess. "Well, I don't know much, from what I was able to get from the Princess's incoherent rambling, she had found you being attacked by an "assassin" she scared her off, but found you struggling on the floor with your throat slit."

Memories flooded back to her, the fight. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she paled, sweat began to form on her brow as her eyes widened.

She attempted to sit up only for a headache to strike her back down "The secretary, Longueville attacked me!" She shouted as she grabbed her head.

"Shh, it's fine we know. You don't have anything to worry about." She said attempting to calm her down.

"No, it's not just that, she attacked the carriage, she was the one that attempted to kidnap the princess!"

"What?" The nurse asked.

She threw off the covers and attempted to leave, only for the nurse to hold her down. "You can't leave, you're not fit yet."

"My suit will heal me, I need to make sure the princess is safe, as long as she is out there she won't be safe!"

"Please!" A new voice broke the argument, looking over she found a teary-eyed Henrietta. "You don't need to do such a thing, Louise. You almost died because you saved me once I can't ask for you to do such a thing again. Just rest."

"Princess." She whispered, her panic was snuffed out as the princess reached forward and pulled her into a tight hug. She looked passed her in shock. She remembered her, she cared for her. She slowly reached up and embraced the girl.

In response, she tightened her hold on her. "Just rest, I know you're more than capable of dealing with her, but with the amount of blood you lost." She paused as he pulled away, allowing Louise to see the tears running down her cheeks. "Just rest."

"But the showcase."

"Is cancelled. I ordered it myself, although Osmond isn't that happy with my command he understands it."

"Wait you're saying he wanted to go through with it? Even after one of his students was attacked? Even after the explosion in the wind tower?" The nurse cut in.

She gave the nurse a small nod. "He wants to keep up the appearance that the school is safe, with all that's going on in Albion he's afraid that people might start pulling their children from the academy to teach them at home."

"A valid concern indeed." She paused before looking back over to Louise. "Well, I think it's time for another dosage." She reached over to a trey and pulled the potion off of it. "This is a potion of regeneration, don't let the name fool you it doesn't do much more than regenerating your blood."

She skeptically eyed the red vile as the nurse popped it open.

"Now I must warn you that it has a bitter taste, but I assure you it works." The women poured the potion out into a small cup before handing it to her.

She audibly gulped as she gazed down at the red liquid. The nurse had sounded so much like her mother. She thought back to the special potion that her mother would make any time they were sick.

Everyone hated it but shared a mutual silence in the household not wishing to offend her. However, she couldn't deny that it worked, getting rid of the symptoms almost as fast as they showed up.

She gripped the glass harder, as she brought it up to her mouth quickly dumping all of the contents into her mouth before swallowing the foul-tasting liquid.

Reaching over she grabbed another glass of water hoping to cleanse her palate of the disgusting liquid.

A small chuckle could be heard coming from the princess, looking over she found that she had dried her tears and looked to be in better spirits. "Well, it's nice to see somethings don't change."

Louise scowled at her before a small smile took its place. "If I remembered correctly, we both got sick while you were visiting the Valliere manor. You pleaded with my mother to not have to take the medicine. You were practically on your hands and knees."

All pretense of concern was washed away as a scowl took its place. "Oh yeah, well if I remember correctly you once scraped your knee, and you were bawling by the time I healed it."

The pair stared at each other waiting for the others façade of strength to falter. They both suddenly began to laugh. "You truly haven't changed Louise."

"Neither have you, princess."

The laughing soon died out as silence took hold, simply enjoying each other's company.

"I'm sorry to cut this short Louise, but the Cardinal has been urging us to head back to the castle ever since a new batch of guards showed up."

Her gaze shifted to her legs as disappointment filled her mind. "It was nice to see you again princess."

She scowled "Please call me Henrietta in private Louise, am I nothing more to you then a ruling figure?"

A smile formed on her face. "It was nice to see you again Henrietta."

The scowl twisted into a smile. "That's better." The girl stood up from her spot. "Now I must depart, but I need to ask you to stay safe you were lucky this time, I don't even want to think what would happen if I hadn't gone to your room. Just, stay safe."

"I. I will Henrietta, you needn't worry about me."

She gave her a small nod before turning and leaving the infirmary.

She looked back to where the nurse was standing and found that she was gone, leaving her alone.

Simply shrugging it off, she laid back down on the bed quickly covering herself with a blanket and attempting to sleep.

When a sharp thuk sound came from the window next to her bed.

Ignoring it she pulled the covers closer to her.

Only for the same noise to hit once more.

Looking around she found that the nurse was nowhere to be seen causing her to Lett out a groan of annoyance.

she threw off her covers once more and slowly moved her legs to the edge of the bed and carefully lowered them to the floor.

The cold wood caused her to pause for a moment while her body adjusted to the temperature as another thing hit the window.

Using her arms, she slowly picked herself. But as she stood up, she was suddenly hit by a massive wave of dizziness causing her to stumble back onto the bed.

White spots danced in the corners of her vision as she brought a hand up to her head.

The dizziness soon passed allowing her to once again stand up.

She walked over to the window and quickly flipped the latch open before opening the window.

A sudden gust of wind pushed her to the side back onto the bed.

Looking up at the window she found her suit float in landing next to her with Kirche kneeling on the window sill.

She scowled at her. "Kirche, what are you doing here? I was trying to sleep."

"What? can I not show some concern?" She said as she stared at her next. "Look, I don't know about you, but when you walk into a friend's room and find a large pool of blood, that cause to be concerned."

"Then why not come into the infirmary normally instead of going the whole creepy stalker climb through window routine. And why did you bring my suit?"

The redhead stepped inside. "Well for some reason the infirmary was being guarded by two large men in heavy armour who told me that is was closed off for the time being."

"That was most likely the princess's guards."

A sly look formed on the redhead's face, causing her to internally groan. "My oh my, having the princess take care of you."

"The Suit." She said attempting to get her back on topic.

"Well funny you should say that. Seems like the oh so honourable Tristian's can be vicious vultures."

"What do you mean?"

"One of the lesser mages attempted to make off with your armour while you were indisposed."

"What who!?"

"One of the lesser mages, Samantha I think.

"The one who summoned a beetle?"

"Yeah that's the one, she attempted to steal your armour to try and pass it off as her own. Don't worry, I took care of it."

"I see." We're people that cruel, to take advantage of her in her first moment of weakness?

"If, you want my advice you should probably keep this suit near you." She turned to leave but paused once she was back on the sill. "Stay safe." She hopped out of the window before it closed behind her, leaving.

She attempted to get back to sleep only for a new fear to plague her mind.

She was defenceless, the fight with Longueville was as one-sided as a fight could be, she wasn't even able to hurt her, if she found out that she was still alive she would most definitely come for her.

Her eyes drifted to the floor where her suit rested.

What was she to do, last night she had her blade with her, but now? It was pointless if she was going to have any chance against her she would need to wear the suit.

She got out of bed and picked up the suit. Looking around to make sure she was alone before pulling the curtains around her bed closed.

She quickly pulled off her blue gown and hopped into the suit, feeling the familiar wave a power wash over her.

Getting back into bed she quickly covered herself with a blanket before nodding off to sleep, the fear of being attacked now crushed by the feeling of security the suit brought.

xXXXx

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _Sorry for the delay on this chapter, i found myself easily distracted by a game i got back into and that just ate up my time to complete this chapter_**

 _ **God, I hated this chapter in the original, so many things were wrong with it, and hopefully, I addressed it in this version.**_

 _ **Notible changes. Removal of Cattleya and duke de la Valliere. Found that there inclusion to the chapter served no purpose to the story.**_

 ** _Change to the fight. Had to happen considering what Louise was like in the original._**

 ** _Removal of the familiar showcase. Had to happen, it would be a huge safety concern if an attack on a student took place the night before the event._**

 ** _Anyways, i hope you can forgive me for the delay. chapter 7 should be out in a few days as i'm going to dedicate most of my day tomorrow to getting that done._**

 _ **Hope to see you guys in the reviews and i hope you all have a wonderful day/night/evening whatever just enjoy it.**_


	7. Chapter 7: The Water Spirit part 1

**WARNING**

Due to audio and visual impairment of the user, this Nanosuit training simulation must only be initiated while in training mode and docked within a Nanosuit maintenance cradle or other motion restrictive chassis. Attempts to execute this program outside of these parameters is highly discouraged as it could lead to damage to both the user and surroundings.

For more information, please refer to the training manual or contact Crynet Systems directly.

Confusion, that is what Louise thought when she saw the text in front of her. Her mind began going over what had happened to her before she found herself staring at the text in front of her. She had been given a new room on the fifth floor of the wind tower while her original room was being fixed. She remembered going to sleep, but did this mean that this was a dream?

Slowly the text in front of her faded, revealing an odd dark world. The ground around her was made out of Elevated black hexagons, the black ground seemed to stretch on for as far as the eye can see. The sky was various tones of grey, the only variations in the distance were various towers of the same colour.

In her hand was an odd-looking musket, the first thing she noticed about it was its shape, it wasn't a long tube surrounded by wood, no this was made out of various materials that she didn't know the names of. The colour was a dull grey look with the only difference being white hexagons painted on various parts of the musket. its stock was another weird feature, it wasn't a single piece and it looked to be adjustable.

She began to turn the musket in her grip, noticing even more odd things, for one, there was a grip where her right hand currently rested just behind the trigger, secondly, there was a rectangular box that protruded out of the bottom of the gun, the word scar was printed just above it.

Third, there was what seemed like a handle that ran down the top of the gun, this was also where the sights were located. Sights how did she that? There was a circle close to her face before the aN elevated point at the end of the barrel, although this point was different in that it glowed at the tip.

Raising the musket to her Shoulder, she tested out the sights. It felt good in her hands, really good, too good in fact, she briefly wondered why she was feeling this way.

Lowering her rifle, she looked around "Hello, is anyone here?" She called out but received no answer.

 **"Welcome to the Nanosuit training simulation environment. Training is divided into several subsections; each subsection can be accessed individually."**

surprised by the voice, She quickly raised her musket and gazed around looking for the source of voice but couldn't locate it.

 **"Here you will learn navigational control of your Nanosuit. We call the Nanosuit battle armour perfected, but it is much more than that."**

A pathway seemed to form in front of her with a line of orange glowing hexagons forming the centre of the path. The one that was directly in front of her had three orange arrows that pointed her in the direction she was meant to go.

 **"The navigation panel gives you real-time tactical feedback on your surroundings."**

Her map popped up on her screen. She started to walk down the path slowly, her steps echoed through the dull dark landscape, she readied her body for anything that could happen.

 **"Artificial muscles assist interaction with your environment."**

A platform made of black hexagons raised from the ground forming a wall that stopped just below her neck. a small prompt in the centre of her vision told her to jump which she did. Landing on top of the platform she looked around. "I know how to jump, it's not that hard!"She shouted.

Looking in front of her the elevated platform dropped off, back to the same elevation that she was on previously. Dropping down she continued to follow the path, which was suddenly blocked off by yet another platform, only this one was much higher.

 **"You can jump higher."**

She crouched down, before jumping up using the suit's energy to increase her jump height. She landed without much hassle. She could only sigh when she saw the path fall back down in front of her. falling back down to the path, she walked forward only to find yet another wall blocking her path, this one higher than the previous two.

 **"You can climb further"**

Feeling something tug at her, she placed the musket on her back, a small click indicated that the musket was stuck to the suit. Gazing up at the platform, She crouched down before, jumping this time her arms were outstretched. Grabbing the ledge she swiftly pulled herself up. Up onto the platform, she was scowling, when the voice said training she assumed that she would be able to learn something useful.

Hopping back down, saw another hexagon with arrows, pointing in the direction of a white diamond that rested just above a glowing platform.

 **"You can run faster."**

She broke out into a sprint, running as fast as she could to the diamond, the sound she could hear was the echo of her feet hitting the ground. As she got near to the diamond a wall seemed to pop up right in front of her with only a small opening at the bottom of it. She wouldn't be able to stop in time, not with how fast she was going. Throwing her legs in front of her, she slid underneath the wall.

 **"With controlled slide."**

As she reached the platform, her vision faded to black. A few moments later her vision returned to normal, only for her to find herself in a completely different location. In front of her was a line of orange glowing hexagons, similar to that which she had seen before leading to a raised hexagon that glowed with more intensity. To her left and right were shelves made of yet more hexagons. In the distance were black mountains of what she assumed were black hexagons.

She internally questioned what was with the hexagons, the gun had hexagons on it, her suit had hexagons, and this entire world was made of hexagons.

 **"Here you will learn how to handle weapons with your Nanosuit."**

The box on the right of her screen showed her the outline of the musket she had in her hand as well as the number forty and a sideways eight. She moved forward eventually reaching the glowing hexagon. In front of her were two lines horizontal lines of hexagons that glowed blue instead of orange, most likely used to signify range.

White triangles began to appear in front of her. Were these targets to help her practice her skills with this musket? Raising the musket, three small white lines appeared in the centre of her vision, seemingly following the barrel of her musket. She assumed that this was going to dictate where the bullets would be going.

Taking aim, she squeezed the trigger, letting off several rounds, taking out the target in an explosion of white particles, the feeling of power quickly turned to surprise for the girl. Didn't she need to reload after every shot? Why was she able to fire so many?

She glanced over to where the weapon outline was, finding that the number had gone down to thirty-four from forty. Turning back to the dark field in front of her she saw more triangles appear, she raised her musket and continued to squeeze off rounds again and again, until the loud bang of the musket was replaced with a soft click sound.

As if on instinct she reached to her left hip and pulled out another rectangular box. Pulling her finger off the trigger she pressed a button just above the rectangular square on the gun, causing it to fall out and quickly slid the new box into the bottom of the musket which locked in with an echoing click.

 **"Even with fast-twitch recoil compensation, rapid fire is inaccurate. Use semi-auto to improve kill ratios."**

"Semi-auto?" She pondered before moving her thumb off of the trigger and onto a switch just above it, flicking her thumb the switch made a click sound.

More triangles appeared, this time they were further away. Taking aim, she pulled the trigger, only for a single bullet to be fired. She Glanced at the musket with a confused look on her face. Had she broken it? testing it once, another bullet was fired from the gun.

Realizing that it would only fire once everytime she pulled the trigger she Raised her musket, she, pulled the trigger, easily hitting every target.

 **"Weapon customization allows for on-the-fly attachment swap-out to adjust to changing battlefield conditions."**

She felt a new weight on her right hip, glancing at her hip she found what looked to be a spyglass. She reached down and grabbed it before raising it to eye level. Gazing through it She saw the towers of black in the distance a little closer, a thin black cross intersected the centre of the spyglass with a simple red dot in the middle.

 **"Mount the scope to engage distant targets."**

"Mount?" She asked as he glanced at both the spyglass and musket in her hand. She felt odd as if she knew what to do. Sliding the spyglass on top of the musket, she once more took aim. Several triangles appeared this time much further than before, using the spyglass she fired, hitting each target without much trouble.

 **"Accelerated reflexes make switching to your secondary faster than a reload."**

Suddenly the musket in her hand disappeared. Running on instincts she didn't know she had, she reached down to her left leg before pulling out an odd-looking pistol. The design of the pistol was much like the musket with a white hexagonal pattern painted on the gun, but unlike a normal pistol, the hammer was in the back of the gun instead of the side and instead of a curved grip for your hand, it went straight down.

The top of the gun had three glowing sights, two in the back one in the front, that when lined up formed a line. Raising her hands in order to fire, she destroyed the next few targets with ease.

A new target popped up which she quickly aimed to take out, only for the sound of gunfire to be replaced with the sound of the hammer hitting nothing. Using her middle finger she pressed a button on the side of the pistol causing the box to fall out. Reaching down for a new box, she found that none appeared in her hand. Glancing back towards the box in the right corner, she found two red zeroes hovering over the image of the pistol.

 **"Your visor will alert you to ammunition restock locations."**

A box suddenly appeared in front of her, containing multiple boxes of ammunition for her gun, reaching out she grabbed a single box, a voice in the back of her mind was telling her to place it on her hip, doing so, She found that it stuck to her, perhaps her suit used some sort of wind magic to hold stuff in place? Grabbing more boxes, she placed them on her hip while keeping one in hand to use for her gun.

As she slid the box into her gun, another box appeared, this one contained two red cylinders with what appeared to be a pin and metal pole.

Placing her pistol on her hip, she grabbed both tubes, that her suit called an M 17 frag grenade. Placing one on her belt, she examined the other, were these like the firebombs that the peasants used she wondered. She was broken from her musings when yet another target appeared in front of her, but instead of floating high above the ground like before, this one was close to the ground, on a raised platform that glowed red.

 **"Telemetry integration allows active target aiming assistance."**

Did it want me to use the grenade? Glancing between the target and the bomb in her hand. Pulling the pin, she let the metal piece fall to the ground before cocking her arm back as she adjusted her aim, a white line appeared most likely to help with her aim.

(HAND LOSS IMMINENT)

Shocked by the red text that took up the centre of her vision, she threw it slightly off target. In the end, however, it didn't matter as the explosion took out the target anyways.

 **"The Nanosuit offers only partial protection from withheld grenades. Throw them within four seconds.**

 **This tutorial is complete. Continued free practice is supported by this module."**

She turned around to see the familiar white diamond resting on the same orange hexagon she arrived on. Walking over to it, her vision faded once more.

Her vision slowly returned, again finding herself in the same barren landscape. In front of her were several elevated platforms that were not connected to hers, the most notable things were these two odd shaped things, she couldn't really tell what they were from this distance, but the fact that they were bathed in red light told her that she should probably avoid them.

 **"Here you will learn the fundamentals of Nanosuit combat operations. All Nanosuit functions require energy. Some functions drain energy faster than others. Energy is recovered automatically from multiple sources within the** **environ-."**

"Uh yeah is there a way I can skip this part, I already know what my suit does!" She shouted cutting off the voice

The voice around her seemed to stop. Seemingly processing what she just said.

Suddenly the floor beneath her fell away, causing her to fall into a darkness. After several minutes of falling, she felt her body hit what she assumed to be water, due to the loud splash and feeling of weightlessness. Quickly righting herself, she held her breath as she attempted to swim to the surface, only to find that it had been blocked off by something. She began to panic as she looked for a way out.

 **"The Nanosuit contains a state of the art rebreather that extracts oxygen from the surrounding environment, allowing the operator to stay underwater for an indefinite amount of time."**

Trusting the voice she slowly took a breath, finding that she was right. A white diamond appeared off in the distance. She began to swim in the darkness with only the white diamond to guide her.

She began to get closer to the diamond, only for her to bang her head into a wall she couldn't see.

 **"Nanovision is a function of the Tactical Visor which provides full-spectrum acuity. This gives enemies no place to hide, even in pitch black environments."**

"Thank you for telling me something I already know," She shouted at the sourceless voice.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED.**_

Her world turned grey, allowing her to see the wall that she had bumped into, looking to her left she found a small opening along the wall. Swiming over to it she quickly pulled herself through, found a set of stairs leading out of the water on the other side.

Exiting the water, she was suddenly blinded as the world suddenly lit up revealing the same bleak dark landscape, she sighed, this was honestly the oddest dream she had ever had. She continued down a path as if formed in front of her until she came to several red hexagons forming an x shaped barrier that blocking her path.

 **"The Nanosuit's strength augmentation allows** **rapid** **destruction of soft cover and power-lifting of oversized objects."**

She scowled underneath her mask as it was still talking about stuff that she already knew. Walking up to the barrier she gave it one quick punch causing it to come crashing down. Walking through the rubble she climbed the now ascending pathway, till it reached a cliff, below her, was several red coloured people wearing odd suits of armour and also carrying the musket she had in the beginning. The people stood in a circle around an orange glowing hexagon with a target painted on top.

 **"The Nanosuit has several offensive capabilities, the air stomp is one such ability."**

A white Nanosuit appeared in front of her, on the cliff itself. The figure turned before jumping off the cliff with its right arm cocked back. The man landed on the target with an echoing thud as the man punch the ground. every person surrounding the hexagon was sent flying landing in a limp pile of limbs.

 **"The air stomp unleashes a powerful shockwave from the various thrusters located on the Nanosuit, killing anyone in close enough range."**

The white figure disappeared from the hexagon while the red people were replaced. Taking a breath, she readied her body. Lunging forward, she cocked her arm back, ready for the impact with the ground. As she landed she threw her fist forward, impacting the ground with all the strength she could muster. The men around her were thrown to the ground. Suddenly she felt the weight of the suit on her.

 **"But be warned, Although the air stomp may be powerful, it will consume whatever energy you have left in the suit, leaving you vulnerable to enemies."**

"No kidding." She deadpanned. As she stood up, her vision fade once more.

It soon returned, this time she found herself on a straight path, a wall in front of her that contained several boxes of what she assumed was ammo for her weapons. She felt new weight added to her, glancing towards her body, she found a sword on her left hip that looked a lot like Derf, that excitement at the familiar sword was quickly dashed as on closer inspection it turned out to simply be a replica.

On her right hip was the pistol that she had used previously and on her back was the musket. Moving forward, she reached the wall which contained the three boxes.

 _ **"Welcome to the tutorial sandbox. Here you can test out your Nanosuit abilities in complete safety."**_

Reaching out she began to grab the rectangular boxes of ammo sticking them to her chest and belt. Turning to the other box, she grabbed the Grenades and stuck them on the right hip

 _ **"Combine Nanosuit modes dynamically to maintain combat advantage over your enemies."**_

She glanced around, to her right was a pathway that ascended the wall, going founder knows where, while to her left there was a pathway that descended. Both paths turned around the wall.

Choosing the left path, she slowly descended, as she got her musket ready. Rounding the corner, she heard an odd beeping sound. In front of her was a tunnel that she would have to crawl through, to her right was a path that seemed to loop around a small courtyard on a lower elevation, the right pathway was walled off.

But on top of a platform between both paths, was the source of the sound, it was some kind of musket on something, she couldn't really tell what it was on. The musket turned towards her before unleashing a torrent of bullets, the shots impacted the suit causing her to cry out in pain, as she retreated behind the corner.

"Complete safety." She remarked sarcastically as she attempted to slow her heavy breathing. She gazed around the corner, that demon musket thing was still there its barrel trained on the corner waiting for her to pass. "Yeah, you sit there," She spoke to herself while pulling out a grenade.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

With her body now translucent, She walked around the corner. Slowly she made her way to the platform, keeping an eye on her energy meter as to not get caught in another line of fire. Eventually, she made her way to the platform. Resting her back up against it, she decloaked grenade in hand. Using that telemetry thing that the voice was talking about, she aimed the grenade before launching it upwards. Crouching down she clamped down on her ears waiting for the explosion to deal with that sentient musket demon thing. But it never came.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

Activating her cloak she jumped up to the platform where the grenade had fallen. She was happy to see the musket had yet to target her. Examining the explosive, she found that she had yet to pull the pin.

Sighing she grabbed the grenade and pulled the pin before dropping it where she stood. Jumping off, an explosion echoed throughout the barren land. She heard an odd sound following the explosion. Moving backwards, she saw the demon machine smoking, the barrel of its gun was pointed towards the floor.

"There she is!" A voice yelled out, breaking her from her musings. Turning towards the source, she saw a red coloured man standing above her on a black hexagon. The man's musket was raised, all it would take was for him to pull the trigger to hit the young girl.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOR**_

Shots rang out across the landscape, as she felt the familiar weight of the armour. She heard the bullets bounce off the suit, as she raised her own musket. Pulling the trigger, the bullet flew from her barrel impacting the man in the head. His head jerked for but a moment before tumbling to the ground.

More shots rang out as more red men, showed up to help their downed comrade. Turning off her armour she quickly ran over to the tunnel before sliding inside.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

Disappearing from sight she exited the tunnel, finding three red men moving in on her previous location in the courtyard. Unsheathing the Derf look alike, she sneaked up on the trio. Grabbing the person close to her, she impaled the sword into his back with her left hand, before reaching down with her right and pulling out her pistol. Two well-placed shots put the other two people down.

A fourth man that was hidden above her started to fire on her. Reacting to this, she twisted around using the body on her sword as a shield from the bullets. Holstering her pistol, she grabbed a grenade off of her hip. Raising her mask, she placed the pin in her mouth using her teeth to pull, before cocking her arm back as her mask came back down.

(HAND LOSS IMMINENT)

Seeing the familiar text appear on her visor she tossed the grenade at the man, which exploded a second later.

With the battle over, she slid the "Mans" body off of her blade. Turning around, she saw a white diamond appear on top of an orange hexagon.

As she made her way to the exit point, her mind began to wonder. She didn't really learn much from this training session, although the things she did learn she was excited to try when she woke up, that air stomp seemed powerful, she briefly wondered if it would cause a bigger shock wave the higher up she did it?

She began to doubt herself. Even if this was the most lucid she's ever been while dreaming, this was still a dream, could she even do the things she did in her dreams in real life? What if during a fight with that secretary she tried to do an air stomp only for it to do nothing?

What if she needed to help someone who was drowning and, in the process, drowned herself? She finally made it to the orange hexagon and felt her body freeze up.

 **"We call the Nanosuit "battle armour perfected". With this tutorial, we aim to perfect the soldier. Good luck out there."** The bodiless voice said as her vision faded to black

Her vision came back to her, showing her a single screen with the phrase CRYNET SYSTEMS written on the top left and bottom of the screen.

This training simulation is now complete.

Slowly her vision faded once more, this time for good.

xXXXx

"Louise." A distant voice called to her. She simply ignored it she was tired, that dream took a lot out of her.

"Louise." The voice called out again this time closer. she once again ignored it in favour of sleeping.

"Louise, please wake up!" She suddenly felt her body being shaken by an unknown source. Her eyes shot open only for her to squint as the sunlight blinded her. A shadowy figure loomed over her.

"Huh, who are you?" She questioned as her eyes began to adjust to the light. Sitting up she found herself in the courtyard. But how did she end up here?

"Oh, thank the founder you're alright." The voice said with a sigh of relief. Looking back at the voice, she saw that it was Kirche.

Raising a hand to her face, she found that, while she had the helmet on, her mask was up. "What... happened? I was in the infirmary before," she asked as she slowly stood up.

Kirche looked at her with a concerned look on her face. "I went to check up on you, to see if you were up to head to the water spirit today. But when I went to the infirmary, I found you in your suit of armour, standing in the centre of the room. I initially asked why you were up so early, but you never answered. Instead, you started to run around your room, jumping every now and again but at some point, you just jumped out your window. I rushed forward once in an attempt to catch you, but at that point, you had already landed. I jumped after you, but you ran off as I got down"

Her mind was spinning, was she acting out her dream? Was that what the warning at the beginning was about. "W-w-what happened next?" Louise stammered out.

Kirche just rubbed her head. "You ran around pretending to have a musket in your hand. While mumbling something about a "stupid musket demon" or something, eventually you just collapsed."

"Oh, Oh founder."

"What was that Louise?" Kirche asked

"N-n-nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hey, Kirche did you get the horses ready!?" A familiar voice shouted, causing both girls to turn towards the source of the noise. In the distance was Montmorency, Tabitha and Guiche all of which wore riding pants for the long journey. In the boy's hands were several oversized bags.

"Uh no sorry, I got a bit distracted trying to wake Louise up. She is a heavy sleeper you know." The redhead told the group allowing her to sigh in relief knowing that she wouldn't have to explain why she was sleeping in the middle of the courtyard.

"Well then get to it, we need to convince the stable head that today is a day off for us!" The blonde commanded, causing Kirche to run off. Montmorency scowled as she walked up to her. "Seriously we need to leave as soon as possible and here she is playing alarm clock." The girl shook her head. "Good morning Louise, how are you feeling." She said turning to the young girl.

"Uh. Fine I guess." Did she not know that she had been attacked.

"Well, you should be happy to know that I have planned the entire trip. We will be on horseback for about two hours until we reach the logging village of Damhal, where we will stop for breakfast, from there we will spend the next four hours on horse following the river, until we reach hunter's rest, where we will have our lunch while we let the horses rest." She said with a smile.

"Ok, but what are they doing here?" She asked pointing to both Tabitha and Guiche.

"Worried." The blue haired girl stated.

"I wish to make amends for my dishonourable actions." Guiche gritted out as he struggled with the bags.

"He got caught philandering with a first year."

Sighing Louise walked over to the blonde boy and reached out for the bags. "Louise you really don't need too, I need to make amends." The boy protested.

"It's fine," She stated dully before grabbing the bags and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Hey Monmon, I got the horses," Kirche called out from the other side of the courtyard.

"We'll be right there." The girl shouted back at Kirche before turning back to the group. "Well looks like we can leave now." She said before walking away from the group

"Wait but doesn't Tabitha have a wind dragon as a Familiar, we could take that." She reasoned

"sick." The blue haired softly answered.

"We're wasting daylight, we have to get on the road," Montmorency told the group as she walked over to Kirche and the horses. The group, not wanting to be yelled at anymore followed behind the blonde.

Several minutes later, the group was ready to leave, the bags of whatever Montmorency was bringing was packed on the horse and everyone was on their horse, ready to leave.

"Miss Valliere!" A voice called out from behind her. Turning around she found siesta carrying both Derf her quiver and her bow.

Seeing the girl running up to her, she hopped off her horse. "Siesta what are you doing here?"

Reaching her, she took a moment to catch her breath. "I went to your room yesterday, only to find it in an utter mess." Holding up Derf she continued. "Lord Derflinger told me what happened so I decided to take care of your weapons while you recovered."

The sword suddenly popped out of its sheath. "And then I explained how you were leaving on a trip or something."

Siesta eye's started to water "Then Lord Derflinger started crying about how his partner was going to leave him, that she would probably find a new sword to replace." The maid turned towards her. "You wouldn't simply abandon such a sword would you Louise?"

Her eyebrow began to twitch as she felt rage begin to build up inside her. "I would only abandon such a blade if he continued to manipulate my friends." She said in a calm tone.

"Well, I think you should still take your weapons. The roads have been getting exceedingly dangerous with so many of our soldiers quarantining Albion. Bandits and trolls have been running amuck." Siesta told the pink haired girl as she held out both Derf and her bow.

With a sigh, She reached out grabbing the various items that the maid was carrying. She quickly got to work attaching the sword to her hip while leaving her bow and quiver on her back. "Thanks, Siesta," She said while giving the maid a warm smile. Turning around She mounted the horse.

She looked up at her. "Uh, Miss Valliere, when do you plan to be back."

She scratched her chin in thought. "Well it's a day there, a day back and maybe a bit of time to brew the potion, so maybe three days."

"It will be two days at most as I planned for everything." Montmorency cut in.

"Well, I guess two days then," She said turning towards the maid.

Siesta smiled. "Please, miss Valliere, be safe." Siesta turned away from the group before walking off.

The group in front of her began to whisper to each other. Thanks to her suit she was able to make out a few things that were being said.

"I thought she said the rumours didn't hold any weight." The redhead said

"Is that the reason why the maid is the last person to enter her room?" The blondes talked between each other

Ironically it was Tabitha was the loudest with just a single. "Affectionate."

She was about to retort when she remembered Kirche's advice from two nights ago. Clenching the reigns of the horse, she burst forward ahead of the group. "I thought you guys said we were wasting daylight." She said annoyed.

Kirche chuckled. "You know this trip is going to be long if we don't have a bit of fun along the way. So just relax, take time to smel-"

"Hey, where do you think you're going!" A male voice shouted at the group.

Turning around they saw a furious Professor Colbert.

"Forget what I said. Run!" Kirche yelled as the group began to rush away from the fuming professor.

"Stop this instant, you have class to attend!" The now distant voice called out.

Putting enough distance between them and the academy they group slowed down. Guiche looked back at the academy fearfully. "We're going to be in so much trouble when we get back."

"You didn't need to come you know, you were the one that volunteered." Montmorency pointed out.

"Yes, but I didn't think that this trip would start off with us being horse thieves." The boy reasoned.

"Oh, come on Guiche, what's life without a little bit of adventure," Kirche said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a normal life of a noble?"

"Are you really so excited to sit in a room, talking to people who are all trying to stab each other in the back to increase their own influence?" Kirche asked.

"The life of a noble is one of sacrifice to make the lives of the peasantry better. If I have to deal with unsavoury scoundrels to achieve this goal then so be it." Guiche told the girl as he puffed out his chest.

Everyone save Tabitha, only stared at the boy. "Anyway," Montmorency said attempting the change the subject. "Did you guys see that crater near the water tower."

Louise suddenly became aware of the conversation around her, Had she done that?

"Yeah it was kind of hard to miss," Kirche replied dryly

"what do you think caused it?"

She became tense, Kirche knew the answer to that question, she was the one to have seen her jump out the window. "Uh, it was probably just some mage's familiar, you know how they can get when away from their masters." She quickly cut in laughing.

The group's attention was now directed to the pink haired girl. "Yeah," Kirche said slowly. "In all honestly Louise is probably right, familiars can get a bit unruly when left alone. I can only hope my flame is fine while I'm gone."

"By the way who did you get to take care of hi-."

Her mind began to wander back to the dream she had last night, specifically the final thing the voice had told her.

 **"With this tutorial, we aim to perfect the soldier."**

What did it mean by that, perfecting a soldier, was such a thing even possible, the closest thing she could think of as the perfect soldier was her mother, disciplined powerful and follows orders to a T, but even she had her faults, not many, but she had them. Was this a new way her suit was changing her, using this training "Simulation" to turn her into the warrior it thought she should be.

the guns she had used was another thing she was curious about, how did she know how to use them, it wasn't like her father or mother taught her how to use one, even back when she saved the princess she had used one, but the ones in her dream were incredibly more advance, using some type of magic, likely contained in the box to be able to fire repeatedly.

"Monmon before I forget, I got you something," Guiche said breaking Her from her thoughts. The boy trotted up to the girl before reaching into his pocket, producing what looked like a bronze ring with a sapphire etched in the centre. "Here," he said handing the girl the ring. "I made it just for you."

"You made this." The girl questioned as she examined the ring.

The boy chuckled. "Not all of it, I made the ring but I had to get Verdandi to fetch the sapphire." Guiche gazed into the girl's eyes. "I choose blue to match your element."

"I love it!" The girl squealed as she slipped the ring. Montmorency slowly became aware of the fact that everyone was staring at her. "B-b-but if you think that this means that I forgive you then you are wrong." She told Guiche turning away from him with her arms crossed.

As the group continued to distance themselves from the academy She continued to think on her dream.

xXXXx

The group eventually made it Damhal, the ride from the academy had been a boring one as the group fell into silence soon into their voyage, with only the occasional comment or jab traded between the voyagers.

That changed when they had reached the town's border, Guiche saw a log floating down the river, that wasn't really out of the norm but normally there would be plenty more logs and a water mage guiding them, but then another log was seen no water mage in sight, then another and then something that had shocked everyone, a commoner man on a log wielding what looked like a spear with an extra blade that looked like it came from a sickle at the end of it.

Everyone looked at the man with a shocked expression on their face, seeing this the man only waved back at them with a glowing smile.

Everyone except Tabitha was confused by the clearly insane man risking his life just to ride logs.

The group once again wrote the man off as being nothing more than a simple crazy man, but then they saw more men riding logs. In order to stave off a headache, the group simply ignored the insanity around them.

Eventually, after seeing even more insane men they had finally arrived at the town proper. It was a quaint little village situated on the Soyer river located in a heavily forested area with, apparently named after a water mage that had stopped a massive flood from washing away the local villages.

The village itself was structured around the main road, this caused the town the be very long. There was also a bridge that crossed over to the other side of the river, which had a huge swath of logs resting on the bay of the river. The population seemed quite small as the group saw few houses, at least compared to a normal sized town

Riding logs, that was something that she found utterly insane. Usually, you would need a mage to help move large swaths of lumber, but these people, in all their insanity created a way to cut out the mage completely, where they would ride the logs down the river, guiding it to its destination. It was so incredibly dangerous, and irresponsible to do such a thing, they should have just gotten a mage to help them instead of trying to do something like this.

"Louise." A voice called for her breaking her from her musings.

"Huh," She asked as she looked around, the girl found herself at a wooden table, a fire in the corner creaked as the wood burned, the walls around her were all made of wood while the floor was stone.

There were very few other patrons, and the people who were here were ether children or women, most likely due to the fact that most of the men were out doing whatever they were doing on the river.

She was currently seated between Tabitha and Guiche, with Kirche and Montmorency across from her, all of which were eating the food they bought from the tavern.

"I asked if you were ok Louise, you haven't touched your eggs at all yet," Kirche said with a concerned look.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about things," She told the redhead, before scooping up some of her eggs and eating it.

"Well, you best hurry up and eat, before boss blondie starts yelling." Kirche joked pointing towards the girl next to her who was currently drinking water from a cup.

Montmorency spat out her drink before turning to the redhead her face red with rage. "I'm not bossy." She said before turning to the boy across from her. "Guiche am I bossy!?"

The boy chuckled nervously. "Of course, not my precious Monmon. How anyone could describe someone such as you as bossy is beyond me."

The girl only narrowed her eyes. "Has anyone told you that you're a terrible liar Guiche?"

He looked shocked but before he could answer, Kirche spoke up. "So, you admit it?"

She simply crossed her arms while sticking her nose up at the girl. "Of course not, I'm just saying that I see through your lies."

Louise ignored the conversation around her to focus on the goings on around the group. Everyone was staring at them, but more specifically her, although they seemed to know how to hid it, the fact of the matter was that they were staring at her.

She couldn't really blame them with the armour she wore, but still being at the centre of all these peoples gaze caused her to feel a wave of embarrassment wash over her.

But as she began to think about it the more it confused her, back in Tristain no one ever gave her a look like that, maybe behind her back but never directly. Perhaps this was due to the fact that this was a small town out of the way, they probably weren't used to seeing things like this.

"I suddenly feel the need to get some air." Guiche nearly shouted while standing up from his table.

"So, scared to tell your girlfriend?" Kirche asked the boy with a sly smile.

"No, I simply need to get some air." The boy explained, before leaving the tavern entirely. The table soon returned to silence as the group continued to eat.

"Excuse me." A small voice called out from the end of the table. Everyone but Tabitha, who continued to quietly eat, turned towards the voice. There was a small brown-haired girl at the end of the table, staring at the group of nobles with his large brown eyes. "Are you the replacement noble?" She asked in a cute voice.

'Replacement noble?' Everyone questioned internally.

A woman began to walk over to the group her hair and eyes were similarly coloured, the woman's eyes trained on the girl at her table "Marie, what did I say about pestering travellers." The voice of the girl's mother chimed in.

The girl turned to her mother, "But mom, when is our water mage going to be back, I don't want dad to go away anymore." The girl said pleading with the women.

The women gave the girl a stern look, causing her to slink off. Once the girl was gone she turned to the group of nobles. "I'm so sorry that my daughter interrupted your meal."

Kirche gave the women a smile. "It's no problem, but what was she saying about a replacement noble?" The redhead asked.

"Oh." The girl said in surprise. "Well our local water mage was a big follower of the founder, every winter when we would stop logging due to the river freezing over, she would go to Romania on a pilgrimage and return in the spring when we could start harvesting wood again. But this spring she has yet to return."

Louise looked at the women confused. "The last frost was well over three months ago."

The women nodded. "Yes, well due to this the men of the village stood up and began doing the mages job, in her absence."

"Was that what they were doing on the river?" Guiche asked

She nodded "The water mage would use her control over water to send the logs down the river. With her gone, the village was slowly dying." The women said with a sigh. "So, the men in all their brilliance decided to begin riding the logs down the river, guiding them to the Gallia town of Amzell where it's processed and sent to the various shipyards." The women explained

"If the men are doing it to keep the village afloat, why was your daughter complaining?" Montmorency spoke up.

The women let out a small laugh while turning to her daughter who was pouting in the corner of the tavern. "She just misses her dad as all." The women turned back to the group. "The river only goes one way, so even if it is only a day's trip by the river it's a two-day trek back by foot."

"What would happen if we got her back?" Tabitha said out of the blue, causing everyone to look at her in shock and surprise.

"Tabitha, you can't be serious." The water mage scoffed. "We didn't plan a detour all the way to Romanian, I mean we can't even get over the fire mountains without chartering an airship. Even then where would we even look!?" The blond-haired water mage shouted attempting to reason with the blue-haired girl.

She ignored her continuing to simply gaze at the women in front of her who was in a state of shock by the bluenettes declaration, after several moments the women had regained her composer. "I really doubt anything's going to change, the men make much more money without the water mage, and between you and me, I think the men are having a bit too much fun to give it up."

"aren't you worried about her though?" Louise questioned.

"Not really, Violette was a strong water mage, one of those, triangle class's you call them. She single-handedly ran off a group of trolls by herself." The women suddenly started laughing. "Knowing her, she's probably been praying for the past four months and simply lost track of time." The women sighed as she gazed at the group of young nobles. "I'm sorry to have kept you for so long if you need anything, let me know."

"We should be fine, we were just about to leave," Montmorency said standing up while dropping a pouch full of gold

The group silently followed the blonde's movements, slowly getting up, leaving their dishes where they lay.

Louise was the first to exit the tavern, stretching as she did. The crisp smell of the morning air tickled her nose, as the songs of birds filled her head. The sound of the river adding to the sense of her being Intune with the nature around her. She took a deep breath, she had to admit, although the local commoners were borderline insane with their idea's, she honestly enjoyed it here.

"Verdandi, what did I say about following me." The distant voice of Guiche said breaking her from her trance.

Following the source of the voice, Louise found herself heading behind the tavern, coming to see Guiche squatting over the ground in front of him. "You ok Guiche?" She asked causing him to spin around in surprise.

"Oh Louise, it's just you." The blonde boy said standing up. Louise noticed something big brown and bulbous poking out from the sides of his legs. "It's just that Verdandi followed us." He said stepping aside allowing Louise to see the giant ball of brown fur that was the earth mole.

Louise walked over before squatting down to face the mole. "Can I?" Louise asked with her arm slightly outstretched

"sure"

Louise began to pet the mole in front of her who pushed itself into her hand. She had to admit, the earth mole was kind of cute, in a weird earthworm eater kind of way. "Was that the reason why you left; the familiar bond telling you that he was nearby?"

The earth mage nodded. "Yeah, I left him in the care of Malicorn, but it seems that my familiar is quite cunning."

"How did he even find us," Louise asked as she continued to pet the mole.

"I'm not entirely sure my self" the mage trailed off. A sudden slapping noise caused Louise to turn towards Guiche, who had his hand on his head. "The ring I gave to Montmorency."

"Huh?"

"Verdandi has an incredible sense of smell, he's able to sniff out precious gems deep underground. I used him to acquire that Sapphire for the ring." The mage turned towards to mole. "He must have followed us by that gems scent."

Louise simply stared wide-eyed at the mage in front of her. "It can do that."

"It's a he, and yes. That nose of his isn't simply just for show." The mage chuckled

"Are you two back there? Montmorency is about to yell at us if we don't get on the road this instant." The voice of Kirche called out

The two mages chuckled. Guiche quickly turned back to his familiar. "You may follow us but you better stay underground, and out of the sight of Monmon, you know how she feels about you."

"Louise and Guiche where are you, we're going to miss our deadline!" The voice of Montmorency echoed throughout the small town

"Guess that is our cue to leave." Guiche plainly said. She silently agreed as they walked out from behind the tavern.

xXXXx

Gallia castle library.

King Joseph was currently in his library, he had spent the past few days since her niece's update, looking for anything that could potentially help protect Halkeginia. In the past three years, he had militarized Gallia in an attempt to prepare. The pope took this as an act of aggression and began tossing sanctions his way, while also encouraging the other Brimiric countries to do the same, Joseph didn't care for what the other kingdoms thought, he had attempted to warn them about the coming crisis, but they wrote him off, calling him the mad king.

"So, you're saying that the suited girl is heading to Lagdorian Lake?" Currently in front of him was a long blue haired girl who looked just about ready to keel over with how heavy she was breathing. The girl wore simple rags that the servants had forced her to wear.

"Yes, big sister says that they are going to the lake in order to cure the pink haired girl's illness." She said with a beaming smile.

Joseph scratched his chin in thought. "Did she say what had affected the girl."

The girl nodded. "Sister said that the pink haired girl's suit is turning her into a solider or something."

Joseph simply hummed at that, this would be easier, if it was truly Ceph tech that she was wearing, then nothing should be able to cure her of what she believes is mind magic and if she is becoming a soldier, then it should be easier to convert her to his side. But perhaps he should take a trip to the lake in order to witness this suit first hand.

Joseph gave the girl in front of him a warm smile. "I thank you for the update miss Irukukwu, as per your request the cooks are at work preparing a meal for you."

The girl was instantly cured of her exhaustion jumped with joy before running out of the library, her destination most likely the kitchen where she would once again pester the chefs to hurry up with her food.

But as the girl left, Joseph couldn't help but smile. The daughter of his brother had summoned such a magnificent familiar, a rhyme dragon. Joseph at this moment had no doubt that his brother would have been proud of his daughter for summoning a thought to be extinct race of dragon.

"Miss Chausson, could you come here?" Joseph called out.

Several moments later an older woman in a maid outfit entered the library. "Yes, my lord?"

"I need you to prepare a carriage for me, I wish to take a trip to Lagdorian lake." He told the maid.

"Ah, is it already that day my lord?"

"No, this is for business."

"It shall be done at once my lord." The maid said with a bow before leaving the room, allowing Joseph to return to the book that he had been reading beforehand.

xXXXx

 _The town of Damhal_

Originally founded 54 years ago by a water mage of the same name. The town was an experiment in new logging techniques. Dumhal believed that one could use the rivers of Tristain as mass transport for one's lumber. But in the end, the town was slated for failure, as the low demand for lumber in the areas that the town connected to thanks to the river system, coupled with attempting to compete with already established lumber towns caused the town's future to look bleak. Damhal himself abandoned the village not wanting to be seen near his greatest failure.

The people of Damhal, however, weren't so happy to simply let the town where they had planted the roots simply die, converting it from a lumber town to a hunting town as the surrounding areas were ripe with game. The town's populace decided to keep the name Damhal as a way to spite their former lord who had abandoned them.

Their persistence did grant them refuge, however, when a devote water mage decided to settle in the town. The women in question restarted the milling industry after convincing the king of Gallia to buy from them. But three years ago when the famed Gallian militarization happened, the need for lumber in Gallia increased ten fold, causing a massive influx of money, and with that money came more families and with those families came more manpower, and so on.

But this year, the water mage has yet to return from her pilgrimage to Romania, forcing the populace of Damhal to innovate once more, creating the role of the log driver.

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Well, not much changed in this chapter, just simply updating the dialogue to fit with the updated story.**_

 _ **Anyways I hope this makes up for the delay for the last chapter, I hope to get this arch fixed and finished by the end of the weekend, so look out for that.**_

 ** _Hope you have a great day, everyone._**


	8. Chapter 8: The Water Spirit part 2

The ride from Damhal to hunter's rest was done in silence, everything that needed to be said was already said. But if Louise were to guess, she would say that the people were simply enjoying the nature around them. It was rare to be so out of the way from everything. The sound of the river flowing, the chirping of birds all around them, the subtle sound of trees as they rustle in the trees. The closest thing she could compare it to was the simple lake behind her family's manor.

"Alright, here we are," Montmorency called out.

As the rest of the group dismounted, she simply took the time to gaze out at Hunter's rest. It was a small peninsula situated a half day's walk from Lake Lagdorian. The most notable thing about it is the single large tree in the centre, with the rest of the land being covered in small wild grass, with few rocks. In front of her was a small hitching rail whose bottom was overgrown with moss, while the rest of the wood looked like it had been exposed to hundreds of years of abuse.

She dismounted her horse, tying it to the post before grabbing the bag that Montmorency had packed for her. "Guiche grabbed our bags, and follow me," Montmorency told the blonde-haired boy before walking off.

"Well guess that means we're having lunch together," Kirche said with her usual smile before walking off with her own bag, Tabitha following her.

Ignoring them, she continued to walk down the road for several minutes, before finding a small outcrop with a shrine dedicated to some god or goddess, considering the blue paint on the inside of the shrine she assumed that it was to some water deity.

The shrine was worn with time, cracks could be seen running among the stone, it looked visited however as several offerings were placed at the base of the shrine. Along with the shrine was a simple wooden stump, most likely belonging, to the tree that once rested here.

Reaching the stump she pulled unfastened the belt around her waist. Once off of her hip, she planted the sheath in the ground in front of the stump. Sitting down, she opened the bag in hopes of seeing what had been packed for her. "Derf." She asked the sword, as she continued to search through the bag.

"Huh," the sword said as he popped out of his sheath. "You need something?"

She pulled out a handful of salted meat. "Have you ever heard of a warrior, having dreams that train them?" She brought the meat to her mouth.

"What do you mean?"

Taking a bite of the meat, she continued. "Last night, I dreamt of a dark void. A voice that sort of reminded me of a more caring version of my mother, guided me through a course while showing me what my suit was capable of."

It was silent for a moment. "Not that I can remember." It said while she continued to eat the meat. "My partners of old would have dreams about upcoming battles, or battles they used to be in, but they never had dreams that training."

"Figured." Why couldn't she have gotten a normal familiar like a wolf, sure she wouldn't be some super powered warrior able to take out bandits like it was nothing, she could have a normal life, not one about fighting off trolls and bandits.

But what if she got a normal familiar, it was due to her suit that she was able to save the princess if she didn't save the princess what would have happened to the kingdom.

"Are you all right my child?" Startled by the sudden voice dropped her salted meat, which fell to the ground. Looking up she saw a man, who appeared to be in his late fifties if the wrinkles that covered his face were anything to go by.

The man's hair was cut short and was grey in colour, the man wore a long blue tunic that reached down to his knees, on his chest was a blue pentagram while in his hands were several candles and what appeared to be flowers in a tiny percaline pot.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She questioned the man, clearly shocked that there was another man this far away from anything else.

"I'm but a simple water priest, tasked with running a church in Chanau, as for what I'm doing here, well after my morning sermons, I usually take a walk down the path, cleaning and maintaining the various shrines." The man told her with a warm smile.

He walked over to the shrine and bent over, began to place the offerings. This allowed her to see the staff attached to his back. Once done the man stood up, taking off his neckless he wrapped it around his fingers, before clasping both hands together. "Oh, great mother of the endless sea pleas-"

As the pastor began his prayer, she shifted her gaze over to her sword, who looked as if he was about to say something. Not wanting the sword to interrupt the prayer, She glared at the sword causing it to slink back into its sheath.

"And may your child soon finds peace." The man stood up before turning to her. "May I?" He asked gesturing to the grass in front of her. Gazing at the man, she slowly nodded. The man took the staff off of his back before planting it into the ground next to Derf and Tucked the tunic into his knees before sitting down across from her. "Now tell me, child, what is on your mind?"

"What, nothing is on my mind, I was simply eating." She told the priest.

The man let out a tiny chuckle. "Yes, everyone says that, but unfortunately for you, I've dealt with many adolescences that were still trying to find their way in the world." She turned to face the ground, could she trust this man? He claimed to be a priest but was he? "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to but I am known by my flock as a great listener."

She glanced at the man before averting her gaze. "It's my magic suit father. It's turning me into something, I don't want to be."

"And what might that be." The man said in an extremely warm voice.

"A-A warrior."

"And where did you procure said suit."

"I summoned it, as my familiar."

The man looked deep in thought for a moment. "Then perhaps you were always meant to be a warrior."

She turned towards the man shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I spent my time training to be a priest studying the water element and its gods. But from what I studied of the void. The familiar you summon is meant to be the perfect match."

She scoffed. "Of course, I know that."

"Then perhaps you were always meant to be a warrior." The man pointed to her suit. "And this suit of armour is simply helping you on your path to becoming said warrior."

"B-b-but I don't even know if I want to become a warrior. I mean I never was even in a fight before I summoned it." She sputtered out.

"Do the best fighters come out of their mothers wielding their swords and shields?"

She slowly shook her head, understanding what the priest in front of her was saying. "No, I suppose not."

"Then perhaps this is the point in your life when you become a warrior."

"But to live your life taking the lives of others for your own gain, it feels wrong."

"And it is."

She was confused. "But you said that me becoming a warrior is fine."

"it is."

She suddenly stood up. "Then why are you saying that killing is wrong!" She shouted down at the man.

The man once again chuckled. "There is more than simply killing to the life of a warrior. You can use your power to defend the ones you care about. Tell me, what was the reason you got into your first fight."

"A friend of mine had gotten ambushed by trolls and I ended up fighting them off" She explained.

"You see, you were given this armour and you used it to defend a person who couldn't defend herself."

"That may be true, but it's not the thing weighing down my mind," She explained to the man.

"And what might that be." The man questioned.

She bit her lip. "A few days ago, I had to kill people, but I didn't feel anything." She paused for a moment collecting her thoughts, "it's why we're heading to the water spirit. To see if we can break the suits mind magic."

The man looked thoughtful for a moment, before standing up. "Admirable to say the least, but I must warn you, the water spirit has been less than, agreeable as of late. The only people that have been able to see her have been the water mages from Romania. Now." The man reached out and plucked the staff out of the ground. "I must return to Chanau, Carole a nun in my employ, hates it when my trips take too long. Good luck my child, and I hope that the Water spirit of the lake grants you what you want."

With that, the man turned and walked off. An uncomfortable silence grew around her.

"So, are you going to listen to the man?" Her sword asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know, everyone around me seems fine with what I'm turning into, but It still seems wrong to me,"

"Well, it looks like you will be able to decide soon."

"wha-"

"Louise there you are." A person called out behind her.

Turning her head, She saw her group walking over, her horse being pulled by Kirche's horse. "We were looking everywhere for you." Montmorency scolded her. "It wasn't until Tabitha told us that you walked down the road that we stopped worrying."

The group eventually reached the shrine where She was sitting. She glanced back down at where her lunch sat. Sighing She grabbed Derf before setting him on her hip.

She walked over to the redhead's horse and began to untie her horse's reigns "Hey Louise, did you know that Monmon and guiche had pasta and wine."

"What!" She shouted as she turned to glare at the two blondes who hung there heads in shame.

"Yeah, while we ate salted meat and bread, they were eating a high-class meal." The redhead suddenly turned to her. "But it's not all bad." The Germanian reached back into the bag on the back of her horse. Kirche soon produced a wine bottle from the bag, the girl examined it before handing it to Her. "Here, eighteen proof, Tarbes classic. Tabitha snatched it while I scolded the two lovebirds."

She took the bottle in her hands, examining it under her eye. Louise suddenly realized how dry her mouth was.

"Not as strong as Germanian wine, but you know. We, adventurers, take what we can get."

She licked her lips, she wanted to drink it, but she didn't have a glass and drinking from the bottle was very un-noble like. With a deadpan look, Kirche perked up "You don't drink the wine with your eyes, Louise."

She glared at the redhead. "You don't think I know that. I simply don't have a wine glass."

Kirche sighed. "Louise, what are we?"

"Nobles?"

"No!" the redhead shouted. "Right now we're adventurers." She pointed at her. "And do you think adventurers have wine glasses."

"N-n-no" She answered sheepishly, taken slightly aback by Kirche's passion.

"Then drink." Louise gazed back at the wine bottle in her hand, slowly she raised the bottle to her mouth, she continued to raise the bottle, till the crisp taste of the grape wine ran down her throat. "I said drink!" Kirche shouted before reaching down and grabbing the bottom of the wine and swiftly raised it.

Surprised by the sudden flow of wine that drowned her throat, she pulled away from the bottle, choking on the precious vintage, coughing loudly as it spilt from the bottle. "Why did you do that!" She shouted at the redhead.

Kirche stared at the young girl. "Because you need to loosen up. This entire trip you've had that same depressed look on your face."

She glared at the girl. "And what, shoving wine down my throat is going to change that." Louise yanked the reigns off of the redhead's horse before tossing her bag onto her own horse's back.

Mounting her horse, she ran to the front of the group, passing by the two blondes who simply looked dumbfounded.

xXXXx

Hunter's rest Originally called that due to the distance between it and Lake Lagdorian, hunters who would travel west following the river in hopes of finding game, would usually stop here to rest and eat before heading back to their hometown. The small area has fallen out of use, as more and more settlements began to pop up along the river, the main reason why people come to this peninsula now is to simply relax, meditate, take in the wonderful sound of nature, or simply fish.

xXXXx

The sun was setting as the group arrived at a secluded part of the lake on the other side of the lake was several houses, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. As the water mage told the group, "The water spirit prefers her audiences to be small and has never once accepted a summon from the towns."

She got to work summoning the water spirit, but soon after the group's arrival, an uneasy feeling blanketed the group. They felt as if they were being watched, even the unwavering Tabitha had put her book down.

"Hey Monmon, can you please hurry up and summon the spirit," Guiche said sheepishly as his head continued to dart around the surroundings.

She was currently crouched over her familiar at the edge of the lake with a dagger in hand and simply scowled. "Summoning the water spirt is a delicate process." The blonde-haired girl placed the tip of the dagger up against her finger. The girl winced as the dagger pierced her skin. Putting the blade away, a single drop of blood dripped down her finger.

Pulling out her wand, the girl chanted a small incantation, a shell seemed to have formed around the drop of blood. The girl placed the finger in front of her frog, who promptly ate the bead of blood. "Take this out into the lake and let the spirit know that we wish to speak to her."

The frog turned and hopped into the water, swimming for a bit, before he plunged deep into the water. The group waited in baited breath as they continued to watch their surroundings. Several moments later a tiny pillar of water burst from the lake.

The water itself began to move in a mesmerizing way before finally taking the form of the water mage only much smaller.

Kirche walked up to Montmorency, before crouching down to her level, she leaned close to the girl "That's the water spi-" Only to be rewarded with an elbow to her gut.

 **"What is it you want mortals?"** The water spirit seemed to echo across the lake, the sure amount of power in it left the group stunned.

Montmorency was the first to regain her composure. She quickly threw herself onto the ground bowing to her doppelganger. "Oh, water spirit. I beg of you loan us one of your tears so that I may cure a friend of what ails her."

An uncomfortable silence fell on the group, it seemed to ponder the request.

 **"No."**

Montmorency brought her face closer to the ground. "Please, I beg of you, part with one of your tears."

 **"No!"** The water spirit shouted.

Louise clenched her fist in anger, "Please I beg of you, I need the tear in order to cure my mind." She pleaded with the spirit as she began to walk towards the spirit, much to everyone's shock

"Louise what are you doing? Guiche whispered to her

 **"Impudent child, do you not know the forces that you currently toy with?"** The spirit chided. She ignored it and continued to walk forward.

"I need it, and if need be I'll take it."

 **"You are nothing more then an ant to me, do you wish to die as on-"** the spirit was cut off, as she stepped foot into the water.

She felt something coil around her leg. Gazing down she found several tendrils of water begin to coil around her leg. Shocked Louise attempted to pull her leg out of the water, only for it to be held down by the water.

 **"You."** The spirit spoke in a neutral tone causing her to gaze up at the spirit fearfully. **"You're human, yet you wear their technology"** the spirit hummed **"Perhaps I would be willing to part with a tear."** A collective sigh of relief could be heard among the group. **"But I need something from you first suited one."**

She stared up at the spirit in front of her sputtering, she hadn't expected to get this far. A sudden slap to the back of the head courtesy of Kirche helped her regain her composure. "A-a-a-anything."

 **"Nearly thirty moons ago, a group of creatures invaded my domain and began syphoning my power. I need you to enter my domain and rid them for me. Do this for me and you will receive that which you seek."**

Montmorency gazed up from her spot in shock. "Her?" The head of her doppelganger turned towards the blond water mage causing her to shoot her head back to the ground. "Forgive my impertinence, I was simply wondering why you would let her into your domain considering that no other human has set foot into your domain since Christopher Cormier formed the first contract with you."

 **"Indeed, and that man should have been the last."** The spirits head turned towards Louise who was still struggling with the tendrils of water. **"But circumstances force me to allow yet another into my domain. Do you accept?"**

"o-o-of cou-"

"Shouldn't you be sending a powerful mage to take care of these creatures?" Kirche asked the spirit cutting her off.

 **"She wears their suit. She will be the one to rid me of this parasite. Now, do you accept?"** The spirit once again asked the pink-haired girl.

"Yes, I'll do it." The suited mage said with her head.

 **"Then enter my domain."** The tendrils uncoiled themselves from her leg, allowing her to once again move it.

She brought down her mask before she began to walk into the water.

"Wait, Louise, are you even able to breathe underwater, you have never been able to cast a single spell, let alone have the mastery to form an air pocket with wind magic?" Guiche asked the mage in front of him.

Turning to the earth mage, She pointed to her helmet. "My suit allows me to breathe underwater." The girl turned back towards the water. "I think?"

"You think!?" Kirche shouted. "Why accept the mission if you don't even know if you can get down there."

"I dreamt about it."

The fire mage could only gape at the suited girl in front of her. "You're going to potentially drown yourself over a dream."

She sighed. "Look I appreciate the concern, but the longer I wait to enter this cave she's talking about, the longer you guys are going to be standing out here." The pink haired girl turned back towards the lake. "And besides, the only thing crafty enough to syphon magic from a spirit are goblins, besides" She gestured to the sword on her him "With Derf I could probably take them all out no problem." Louise walked deeper into the water, only to stop. Grabbing her bow and quiver she turned back to the group. "Can you take this, I wouldn't want to ruin the string, and I would most likely lose all the arrows while swimming to the cave."

Montmorency being the closest to her, simply reached out and plucked the items from the girl's hands. "You know you don't need to do this alone," Kirche told the pink-haired girl.

She simply shook her head, "My familiar is changing me, it wouldn't feel right if anyone got hurt over my ailment." Turning back to the lake, Louise continued to walk deeper into the water, when the water reached her waist she heard a scoff from behind her. Turning around she saw Kirche with a smug grin on her face.

"Typical of a Valliere."

"What was that!?" She glared at the girl.

"It's simply the Valliere hard-headedness." The redhead told the girl with the same sly smile. "Which is why I'm forcing my help on you." Without warning a large wall of water cut the group off from her.

 **"Only one other human has seen my domain, the suited girl will be the only other."** The voice of the spirit bellowed across the land.

She sighed. "Drop it. I'll go fight whatever is harming the spirit and then we can all leave."

As she turned towards the water the familiar voice of her suit chimed in her ear.

 _ **ENTER THE SPIRITS DOMAIN, DESTROY THE ALIEN THREAT.**_

In a single moment, she dove into the deep water below.

xXXXx

Montmorency's head was racing as Louise and the spirit swam out of sight. The water spirit was extremely powerful, how in all that is holy were goblin's able to steal her power unless it wasn't goblins, that was Louise's assumption. On top of that not just anything could absorb spirit magic, the only thing that really could be. "Elves!" The blonde-girl shouted at the top of her lungs causing everyone to turn towards the girl.

"Monmon what are you talking about?" Kirche asked, obviously concerned.

The girl turned towards the redhead. "Isn't it obvious. Goblins may be crafty but they can't steal power from a spirit. The only species who can do such a thing are-"

"Elves." Guiche finished. His face turned fearful. "Louise just got sent into an underwater cave full of elves!"

"What's this about Louise going off to fight elves?" The group turned towards the new voice, to find professor Colbert walking through the brushes, his face appeared calm but no one in the group believed it for a second.

Guiche was the first to speak up. "Well you see, the water spirit asked Lou-" Only to be cut off when Montmorency covered his mouth with her hand.

"Sorry Professor but water mage patient confidentiality is a sacred trust, that I will never break," Montmorency said with a smile.

Colbert narrowed his eyes at the group. "Tabitha. Care to explain?" He said turning towards the young Blue-haired girl.

"Water spirit needed help. Louise agreed. Heading to her domain now." Colbert looked bewildered.

"And you let her go!" He shouted turning back to the group. The two blondes sheepishly nodded.

"I tried to go with her but the water spirit only wanted her to go alone, something to do with letting as little humans witness her domain," Kirche explained. "And even if she the spirit allowed more than one of us to go, that Valliere attitude of her would have pushed our help to the sidelines."

The professor sighed, "More and more like her mother every day." He muttered under his breath. Colbert set the staff on his back. "I'm going after her." He told the group as he walked towards the shoreline. "Stay here until I get back."

Montmorency simply stared at the man. "Sir you can't be serious; the water spirit will kill you if you attempt to wrong it."

The man paused at the edge of the lake. "If what you say is true, and the spirit needs my student's help. Then it must be weak to the point where a simple mage could fight it off. Now if it is elves, then I must hurry to save my student before she does something stupid."

The man walked into the water before he raised his staff. After a simple incantation, the man dove into the water. The group stared in stunned silence for what seemed like hours. "Well." Kirche started breaking the silence. "Tabitha if you will."

Tabitha walked forward, raising her staff. In a moment the redhead was blasted back, shocking Montmorency and Guiche. A moment later a white glow surrounded the blue-haired girl. Tabitha reached up and undid her cloak, letting it fall to the ground. The girl walked forward before diving into the water, after her professor.

Kirche moaned as she stirred on the ground, the two blondes rushed over to their friend's side. "Of course, Tabitha's first miss cast is a spell directed at me."

"Uh, I think she did that on purpose?" Guiche explained.

The redhead looked confused. "Why wou-." The girl paused as a look of enlightenment shown on her face. "Of course, it's obvious."

Montmorency and Guiche looked at each other. "What is?" Montmorency asked

"Tabitha, she wants to be alone with Louise because she loves her. She wouldn't want anything to happen to her, even if it means taking on elves." The girl answered.

The two blondes simply stared at her. "I don't think that has anything to do with it."

The redhead scowled at the two as she sat up. "For the past week, I've caught Tabitha staring at her in class, taking detours to pass by her room on the way to class." Kirche glanced around before she got closer. "One time I caught her hovering outside Louise's room."

Montmorency could feel her face get hot. "Y-y-y-you're joking, you have to, Tabitha would never do such a thing."

Kirche turned towards the blonde girl. "And how would you know that she wouldn't do such a thing."

Guiche looked confused at the two. "You know she could just be interested in the familiar."

The redhead scoffed at the boy. "Please Guiche, I know love when I see it. Tabitha just has an odd way of showing it."

xXXXx

 **"It's not much further young one."**

Louise felt odd as she continued to swim deeper into the lake, around her was a dark landscape, fish occasionally passed her by. But as she glanced towards the floor of the lake she found something that confused her further. "Ruins."

 **"Indeed, we are currently over the remains of a small elven village that was destroyed nearly eight thousand years ago."** The spirit explained.

"What happened?" She asked as she continued to swim by them.

 **"I simply grew in power causing the lake to grow around me, eventually, overtaking around me all the land around me."**

"And what of its inhabitance," She asked curiously as to where the elves ended up.

 **"The elves left, they knew I needed to grow, and out of respect moved to the new edge of the lake. And as I continued to grow, the continued to move."**

"But if the size of the lake is dependent on your power, how come the water level hasn't lowered?"

 **"Young one, you have to realize that many of your kin would be more than happy to steal away my power. If I were to lower the water level, people would take that as a sign of weakness and attack."**

"But that show of force back on the surface."

The spirit stayed silent for a moment before answering. **"That was nothing more than a show, I doubt I could have fought you all off."**

She was slightly taken aback by the words of the spirit, she would have lost if they had fought her? Just how weak was she?

 **"Which is why you showing up is a blessing."**

"I'm sure others would have helped you."

 **"They have, but everyone who has entered my domain to help has yet to return."**

"But you sai-"

 **"We're here."** The spirit said cutting her off.

Glancing up she suddenly became aware of the cave in front of her.

 **"My domain is in there but I must warn you, the occupants are extremely dangerous and are prone to attack on sight."**

She swam into the cave as the light around her faded.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED**_

The girl's world turned the familiar grey, as she continued to swim deeper into the cave. She swam for what for several minutes, pausing every now and again to let her suit recharge. She continued to swim, guided by the pull of the water spirit. But as she continued to swim, odd things began to happen to her vision, every now and again her Nanovision would shut off for apparently no reason, this would then be followed by all of the information on her visor becoming distorted before returning to normal

 **"Watch out young on-"**

Before the water spirit could warn her, she fell out of the water. Landing on a damp cold cave floor.

"You know you should warn a sword before you go jumping into water, we rust you know." The sword on her hip whispered as she looked around the cave.

"Oh yes because it would be terrible if that mouth of yours rusted up."

Glancing up to where she had come from, she found a large wall of water suspended in the air. A face formed in the water, now taking the form of her rather than Montmorency.

 **"This is as far as I can go young one. We can reconvene once you reach my body."**

"But where even is your body," She asked, not liking the idea of running around a cave all night.

 **"This cave will lead you to it. I wish you luck, for both our sakes."**

The water soon became faceless, leaving her alone with Derf in the darkness. Placing her right hand on the hilt of the sword, she began her trek into the cave.

"I guess this is what I get for being a narcolept. I go to sleep for only a few hours and you end up in the water spirits domain. Say what did you tell the water spirit in order to let you in here?" The sword whispered inquisitively.

She turned towards the sword on her hip. "Weren't you listening?"

"I'm sorry but the water spirit communicates via telepathy, and you know a sword on someone's hip isn't exactly the first target for communication." The sword explained.

"Fine if you must know, the spirit needs help culling a group of what I assume to be goblins, that have been stealing her power for the past month."

The sword hummed. "Well, I guess we'll find out what is actually stealing her power soon."

She wondered what the sword meant when she looked up. A faint glow could be seen in the distance, coming from a hole in the cave wall. Louise unsheathes Derf before moving forward in complete silence, the only sound to be heard was the dripping of water.

As she approached the hole in the wall, she could feel the nervousness begin to take hold only for the feeling to nearly vanish after a few moments. Taking a deep breath, she moved forward, finally reaching the hole in the wall. Pressing her back against the wall, she deactivated her Nanovision, allowing the suit to once again recharge.

But as she let the suit recharge, the sound of metallic growling could be heard coming from the hole.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

She turned to gaze into the opening, her vision blurring a bright blue hue as she took in her surroundings. Below her, was a large room which was bathed in a beautiful blue glow.

In the centre of the room was a small pond, a platform in the middle contained a beautiful blue crystal pillar, in the centre of which reside a jewel that seemed to be the source of the beautiful blue glow.

Attached to the jewel was several metallic cables that seemed to connect to triangular cylinders, that seemed to faintly glow a demonic red colour.

But the thing that shocked her the most were the occupants of the room.

Walking around the room, was a group of eight tall demonic monsters, whose entire bodies seemed to be made completely out of metal. There was a small opening in the demon's chest and back which revealed the demons true form, which seemed to be a red blob with several tentacles at the back.

Their legs looked as if a dog's hind leg and a human were mixed, human due to the fact that they walked upright and it ended at a hip, and a dog because of the curve of the leg. The demon's feet were made out of several metal claws forming the shape of a cross, with one seemingly useless hook at the back of the leg.

The creature's arms were made of what appeared to be a segmented metallic tentacle. In the demon's hands were what she assumed was a musket of sorts, with how the demon was holding it. His offhand however consisted of three claws that seemed to make up the beast's hand while also having two blades that protruded out of the monster's wrist.

But what frightened her the most, was the demon's helmet. It was made out of two pieces one for each side of its face, both sides had tusks made of metal, but it was their eyes that caught her attention. Eight red eyes that glowed in the dark of the cave.

As she was about to retreat back into the cave, a loud thumping noise caught her attention as the entire cave shook. She could feel her breath hitch in her throat as the noise got louder. The source of the noise soon entered the room, a massive hulking beast only vaguely resembling the other demons.

The differences were numerous. For one the gooey body was a deep red instead of orange, and whereas the others looked to be thin and agile this one was different. It's armour was bigger in all aspects instilling a sense of great fear in the girl.

"Tabitha, what are you doing here?" A voice called out from behind her. She turned towards the voice only to be greeted with darkness.

Several of the demons began growling in a metallic tone, as they "communicated" with each other. Turning back, she saw one of the demons walking over to where she stood. She scurried away from the hole and pressed her self up against the wall.

The demon hopped up to the hole, it's red eyes scanning its environment, Louise could feel sweat begin to form on her brow as the beast continued to look around.

"Worried." The familiar voice of Tabitha cut in.

The demon in front of her let out a metallic chuckle, as it began to walk off into the dark.

She bit her lip, what were they doing here. She had told them that she was going to do this on her own. Decloaking in order to let her energy recharge she began to develop a plan of action.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED**_

With the darkness now gone, she was able to make out the demon as well as two human shapes in the distance.

She dashed forward, her sword pointed at the demons back.

"Founder what is that!" A male voice shouted. The demon brought up its musket ready to fire. Gritting her teeth she lunged at the beast, impaling it in its squishy back. The beast jerked its head upwards as it let out an unholy gurgle before collapsing to the ground.

"Louise what are you doi-" The man was cut off when Louise brought a finger to her mouth shushing the man, as she looked back to the hole in the wall waiting to see if any other demon was going investigate the noise.

After several moments of not hearing anything, she turned back to the man in front of her, only to stare in shock at the sight of the soaking wet professor. "P-p-p-professor, what are you doing here?" Louise whispered at the man.

"I would like to ask you the same thing, young lady. Skipping class, threatening spirits and now fighting whatever these things are." Colbert pointed to the beast that Louise was currently straddling. "Do you know how much trouble you're going to be in once we get back to the academy."

"Please professor I have good reason to be doing these things."

"And what might that be." Colbert narrowed his eyes at the girl in front of him.

"That, I can't tell you." The man sighed "B-b-b-but we need to fight these things, they are stealing the water spirit's power."

"I understand that Louise, but the battlefield is no place for a girl like you. Which is why you and Tabitha are going to stay here while I deal with these things." The man turned to Tabitha only to find her staring at the corpse in front of her, her face flushed with anger as she gripped her staff with unbridled fury.

"Tabitha?" She asked in concern at seeing the normally calm mage filled to the brim with rage. The girl slowly raised her staff and uttered an incantation, turning her body slightly translucent. The blue-haired girl then ran by both Louise and Colbert.

"Tabitha, come back," Colbert told the young mage. Who simply ignored him, clenching his fists Colbert ran with Louise soon following her.

Eventually, the professor and the girl caught up to her, as she seemed to gaze into the room where the water spirit lay. Louise could see Tabitha grit her teeth before she hopped down to the room below. Firing a single icicle from her staff, impaling one of the demons in the back, on the other side of the room.

A loud metallic grunt could be heard from one of the demons as they turned their attention to the blue-haired girl. She quickly raised her staff, calling forth more icicles, firing them ant any demon that turned her way. But much to the girl's dismay, the ice spears, were simply bouncing off the armour.

Louise saw a demon rushing her, blades in both of its hands. She swiftly hopped down, in-between it at the blue-haired girl, Derf at the ready.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

The beast swiped its blades at her, ducking under the blade she swiftly retaliated by impaling the beast in its exposed neck. It's eye's flashed a bright red before turning black as it body fell limp.

Turning her head, she saw one of the demons taking aim at Tabitha with his musket, The bluenette too focused on keeping up her volley of ice didn't notice the new threat, she was about to jump in front of the musket and take the hit for her unarmoured friend but a giant serpent of fire took out the demon before she could act.

Turning she saw Colbert standing at the edge of the hole with a very unamused look on his face.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Pulling out the blade, she grabbed the demon's body by the throat, turning towards its kin she tossed the body knocking over one of the demon's that was getting ready to fire its musket. Tabitha seemingly ran out of willpower as the volley of ice stopped, the demons took advantage of this, with one of the bladed demons charging her. Deactivating her armour, she attempted to aid the girl.

Tabitha, however, had seen the beast charging her, however, dodging the blade as she planted the end of her staff into the beast's gut. The blue-haired girl, let out a yell as she quickly fired off some sort of wind spell, as the back of the demon seemed to simply explode.

Louise could see more musket demons begin to take aim, Tabitha reacting to the new threat erected a wall made of ice to cover her. The demons did not care, however, firing a few quick shots at the wall, the ice provided no protection as the bullets broke through with ease.

The girl was suddenly thrown back as one of the shots hit her in the, a splatter of blood painted the wall behind the girl, as a clearly defined hole was made in the shoulder. The demons once again took aim, Louise jumped in front of the girl shielding her from the demons.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOR**_

The demons fired their muskets to no effect as Louise blocked every shot thrown at her and quickly ran over to the groaning bluenette and tossing her into the pond in the centre of the room out of harm's way. As she turned back to the other enemies, she felt a sudden pain course through her body, glancing down she found that one of the demons had impaled her in her gut.

Gritting her teeth she punched the creature in its face before plunged Derf into its chest causing him to buckled and fall to the ground. The three other demons were all musket wielders. Seeing their ally fall they all took aim at the pink-haired girl.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Using her cloak as cover she dove into the pond, as she began to feel the puncture wounds in her gut begin to heal. She had to admit her suit was amazing.

After a moment Louise exited the water, still in her cloak. The loud buzzing of the demon's repeating musket filled the air as they shot at where she assumed her professor was hiding. Sneaking up behind the closest one, she impaled it on Derf before turning towards the last two, running forward with the demon's body acting as a shield, she rammed into the other two demons.

She shoved with all of her might, but it was no use, she didn't have the strength topple the three demons. In an instant a serpent made out of flame pierced both demons, causing them to explode. Pulling Derf out of the demon, Louise could finally hear how fast her heart was beating in the new-found silence of the cave.

Suddenly she rushed over to the pond realizing that the bluenette was still inside. Reaching in she grabbed hold of the girl's arm and pulled her out. She set her down on the rock next to it, the first thing that She realized was that the girl's shoulder was completely healed the only evidence that she was hurt in the first place was the large round hole in her shirt.

"The pond must have healed her." A voice from behind her called out. Turning Louise saw Colbert standing over her. "I saw those blades gut you, how were you even still able moving?"

"Most likely my suit." She explained. "Watch over her, I need to do something." She told the professor who said nothing.

Standing up She hopped over to the platform in the middle of the pond, cautiously she extended her hands, slowly reaching out to grab the metal cables. As her hands approached the cables red lighting arched between it and her hands. She quickly pulled her hands back in fear. Taking a deep breath she steeled herself.

Quickly she grabbed the cables taking one in each hand. She let out a pain filled scream as she continued to tug at the cables. Several messages seemed to pop up in her vision as she continued to pull.

 _ **INTEGRATING NEW FIRMWARE**_

 _ **ESTABLISHING CONNECTION**_

 _ **UPLINK ESTABLISHED**_

 _ **DOWNLOADING GEOGRAPHICAL DATA**_

 _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE**_

With a sudden movement, she pried the cables off, as the rest fell off without her intervention. A wave of fatigue washed over her as she pulled her hands away from the glowing jewel.

 **"You have done well young one, I can feel my power being to return to me, but I must tell you that your friends are under attack."**

Struggling to keep herself from falling back into the water, she simply gazed at the jewel. "It took us so long to get here, how are we supposed to reach them in time," She asked the jewel.

 **"The creators had created a way to transport themselves to the surface, they had used it to attack and kidnap my followers from around the lake. Due to the fact that you are wearing their suit, you would most likely be able to commandeer their mode of transport"**

She turned away from the jewel, almost stumbling.

 **"As thanks for ridding me of these parasites, I shall loan to you my power to help you get back on your feet."**

 _ **EXTERNAL ENERGY SOURCE ENABLED**_

She suddenly felt rejuvenated, power seemed to course through her she gazed at her body with this new wave of alertness, she felt amazing. She hadn't felt like this since the first time she put on the suit, the edges of her vision glowed a divine golden colour.

Gazing down at her hands she found her body glowed a beautiful golden colour.

Hopping over to Colbert and Tabitha, her professor only looked at her with concern, as she passed her by. "Take care of her, I need to go help the rest of the group."

"Louise you shouldn't be doing these things, it's much too dangerous." Colbert pleaded with the girl. "Watch Tabitha, I will go deal with these monsters."

"Professor like the spirit said, I'm the only one able to use their transport to aid my friends. You may not like it but we have no choice."

Colbert tried to retort but She ignored him continuing to walk over to the next room, but a feeling tugged at her. Glancing towards one of the demon's body, an idea popped into her head. Walking over she placed her foot on the monster's arm, reaching down she grabbed its musket in both hands.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Using all of her strength, She ripped the musket off the demon's arm. Holding it in her hands she examined it. At the end of the musket was three curved metallic tentacles that somewhat resembled the demon's arm. The musket seemed to be designed like the demons who wielded them, being the same grey metallic colour as the demon's armour.

The back of the rifle appeared to be a tube of sorts where the demon had placed its arm. As Louise brought her arm towards the back of the musket, the tube suddenly opened. Sticking her arm in it, the tube suddenly closed around it. All the info on her vision became a light blue colour. In the top right of her vision were the simple words.

 **unsupported hardware detected.**

She walked into the next room, this room was a far cry to the room she was just in, the room seemed to be made out of metal, the room was circular in nature with a large metal pillar protruding out of the centre as if emulating the water spirits room. Around the perimeter of the room were circular indents that appeared to be made for tubes of sorts, Louise could count twenty or so indents with the only single indent to be filled with a large pod situated to her left. Was this the transportation system the water spirit was talking about?

 **"Indeed, it is."**

She flinched in shock at the sudden voice in her ear.

 **"If you wish to help your friend, enter the tube, it will take you to the shoreline where the demons landed."**

She gazed at the pod for only a moment, before climbing in. She needed to hurry.

 _ **ENTER THE POD, DEFEAT THE ALIENS**_

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Wolves567: You were talking about ceph in your review, well here they are.**_

 ** _Not much change this time around, ether way I hope that everyone bears with me while i finish up this rewrite because right after were going to be dealing with the box of destruction._**


	9. Chapter 9: The Water Spirit part 3 Final

Montmorency, Guiche and Kirche were currently sitting around a fire on stumps of earth created by the earth mage, the sun had recently set and with it brought a wave of cold, in response, the group worked together and built a fire while they waited for the other group to return.

The group sat in silence, the only sounds to be heard were the subtle sounds of the water moving, the sounds of crickets chirping in the breeze, the crackle of the fire and the occasional stomach growl.

Although they sat in silence, the group had a very clear understanding of each other, they were worried. Elves were no laughing matter as it was said that you needed at least a hundred mages in order to beat a single elf and the people who went were a single square class mage, a triangle wind mage, and a failed mage. How in the name of Brimir were they supposed to beat a group of elves?

"I can't handle all this waiting around!" Guiche suddenly shouted as he stood up. "I'm going for a walk." The two other mages watched as the boy walked off into the woods.

Kirche simply gazed into the fire as her mind began to wander back to the suit Louise was wearing. Something felt off about it, but it was the water spirit that really made her take the time to actually think about it.

 **"She wear's their suit."**

What did that mean, was Louise wearing an elven made suit? That would certainly explain the suit's powers, but what would happen to her if the church found out.

"We can't tell anyone about the origins of Louise's suit."

Montmorency looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"The spirit said that Louise was wearing their suit, now if the spirit is being attacked by elves."

"She's wearing an elven suit," She said finishing her thought. "Oh founder, if the church finds out, she would most definitely be killed and her familiar would be taken away to be studied."

She nodded, "Which is why no one other than the people who heard the spirit can know about this."

She said nothing as she gazed at the fire, seemingly processing what Kirche had said. "What happens to us?"

"Huh."

"I'm saying if the church somehow finds out where Louise's suit came from they will surely start looking at her associates to see if we have been hiding information. So, I ask again, what happens to us." Montmorency had turned towards the redhead, her eyes conveying the fear she felt.

"Nothing."

"Huh?"

"We play ignorant, they have no evidence of collusion between us and Louise," Kirche explained as she gazed into the fire.

Montmorency broke the silence with a sigh. "When did it get so complicated."

"What do you mean?" Kirche asked confused.

"I mean, we came here to get a tear. Now we find out that the spirit is being tormented by elves, and that Louise has been wearing a heretical suit for the past week." Montmorency tossed her head into her open palms. "Argh, I mean what's next elves stealing entire towns?"

Silence fell over the group; both of them going back to watching the crackling fire, every now and then the redhead would toss another log into the fire.

As Kirche was set to place another log, she caught an odd noise ringing in her ear just barely audible over the fire, a sort of whistling noise as if something was flying through the air.

"Founder is that a meteor?" Montmorency asked as she pointed to the sky.

Following the girl's finger, she saw what the girl was pointing at, up in the sky was some sort of object that appeared to be a light with a red demonic fire. The object fell from the sky landing in some off seen area not that far away from them.

She looked in the direction of where the rock had landed, her face speaking volumes as to her concern. "that looked like it hit near Chanau." She looked back at the redhead who was clearly confused by the word. With a sigh, she continued. "Chanau is a tiny fishing village on my family's land, it's around where that meteor had landed."

Kirche smiled, happy to have something to alleviate this boredom. "Then, as you are the daughter of the lord of this land it should be your duty to make sure the population is alright."

The blonde only stared at her for a moment before a smile formed on her face. "You're right." The blonde stood up. "Follow me I know how to get to it from here."

Montmorency led her through the dark forest, eventually coming to a cliff that overlooked an inlet, the town she was talking about resided below them. it looked odd compared to the fishing villages in Germania. the dock was small only having half a dozen fishing boats but other than that it seemed like a normal village.

The town looked large enough to house at least a few hundred people with a large chapel situated at the center of the village, most likely dedicated to the local water spirit.

A sudden sound behind them startled the two girls, who quickly turned to see who was stalking them, only to find Guiche walking out of the woods. The boy looked shocked to have run into the two girls here but quickly recomposed himself. "I'm guessing that you two saw it?"

The two girls nodded. "We came to make sure everyone is alright."

Kirche tuned out the rest of the conversation to gaze down at the town, she didn't know what it was but she began to have doubts, as if something down there was waiting for them, perhaps this was due feeling watched when they had first arrived here but she couldn't really tell, all that she knew was that the longer she gazed at the town the more unsettled she became.

"Kirche!" A voice shouted at her breaking her from her musings. Turning towards the source of the voice she found Guiche and Montmorency walking down a path off the cliff face. Quickly the redhead caught up with the group before they continued on towards the town.

xXXXx

Several minutes later the trio found themselves entering the town, the group found themselves in a stunned silence as they examined the town. It was like a war zone, the main street was covered in broken glass, holes littered the sides of the buildings AND the smell of blood filled the air.

As the trio entered the town a familiar feeling returned to them, that of being watched, the group looked around attempting to locate it, but they were only able to find more signs of battle.

It soon became even more apparent that something horrible had happened here as the group began finding blood stains both on the road and on the houses but as they continued into the town, something occurred to the redhead, there were no bodies.

"Hello, is anyone out there? You can come out I'm a M-" the blonde attempted to yell out, only for her mouth to be swiftly clamped down by the redhead.

The blonde struggled in her grip "We don't know if whatever did this is still here." Kirche explained as she glanced around attempting to find whatever was watching them. "We should leave and get some help." The redhead whispered in an unnaturally serious voice.

The blonde attempted to speak through the tanned girl's hand only for it to come out as muffled gibberish. The blonde once released pulled away from the redhead before turning towards the fire mage her face spoke volumes as to how angry she was. "I'm still worried, I need to make sure that they are alright." She whispered.

She clenched her fist as she felt a wave of anger wash over her. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself "Fine but were not staying for long, a quick search and then we leave."

The blonde slowly nodded "Right." Montmorency looked around. "We should start at the inn, it's closest and I know the owner."

Montmorency walked passed the redhead towards the broken door of what she suspected to be the inn. Stepping inside, Kirche found that she couldn't see a thing in the dark, pulling out her wand she summoned a flame that illuminated the inn only to find it in utter chaos, the tables were turned over, the metallic smell of blood permeated the air. To her left was a bar that seemed in even worse condition to everything else.

The counter was broken in several places with pools of liquor covering the surface but again Kirche noticed that there were no bodies people had obviously died if the smell and the blood was anything to go by.

Across the room was the stairs that led up to the inn's various rooms, or what was left of the stairs. It looked as if something large had crashed into it, with the wood being caved in. The second floor looked about as good as the first with most of the doors being kicked in.

"Mister Francois, it's me Montmorency if you're still here you can come out." The blonde girl said in a hushed tone, just loud enough to be heard throughout the building.

Kirche simply ignored the mage as she continued to scan the environment. It didn't feel right, the feeling of being watched weighed down on her. "Founder what could have done this," Guiche asked breaking Kirche from her thoughts.

"Nothing human," Kirche stated

"What, how can you tell?" Montmorency questioned.

"No bodies, if this was a bandit attack they wouldn't have taken the bodies if it was mercenaries they wouldn't have trashed the town if it was an invasion they would have simply torched the town," Kirche explained to the two blondes.

Seemingly accepting her answer, the two went back to coming through the remains of the building. She noticed something off in the corner of her vision, turning towards it caused a chill run up her spine, gazing through the window was eight dots of red. Upon being seen it simply ran off, leaving the fire mage staring wide eye at the darkness.

"Kirche are you ok?" A voice called out from behind her.

Kirche continued to gaze at the darkness for several moments before finally breaking out of her trance. "Something is watching us." The redhead stated as she turned towards the group.

Guiche looked at the redhead confused "What do you me-" but he was cut off as the faint whistle filled the inn.

"We have to move," She told the group before running into the back room of the inn quickly snuffing out her flame. The group followed suit quickly entering the back of the inn. Once inside Kirche closed the door only leaving a small gap for them to look out of.

Several moments after entering the room a loud crash came from behind them. gazing through the small gap in the doorway She stared wide-eyed at the damage. The roof was now caved in, moonlight now illuminating the room. In the middle of the room was a crater that contained a single large metal pod of sorts, if Kirche had to guess it was about nine feet tall and at least four feet in diameter.

Simply gazing at the pod caused Kirche to feel a wave of anxiety to wash over her that wasn't helped by the fact that the pod had begun to glow an unnatural red colour. "Kirche what is that thing?" Montmorency asked the fire mage.

Before she could answer the pod began to hiss as steam poured out of the pod. In a single moment, the pod exploded causing smoke to fill the room. Through the smoke, she could see those same red eyes.

The creature let out a metallic cry that rang in her ears as she continued to stare at the smoke covered monster in front of her.

her eye's widened as the smoke finally cleared, in the moonlight stood an eight-foot-tall metallic monster, no monster was too light-hearted for this, this thing was a demon she was sure of it, the orange glow that surrounded that orange body in the center of the armour, those tentacles coming out of the creatures back that seemed to move in an oddly disturbing fashion that screamed demon from this world could be this horrifying.

The creature seemed to let out even more metallic gurgles as it looked around, no doubt looking for them. Kirche felt sweat begin to form as she glanced to its arms, a giant odd gun rested on its arms. She began to feel her legs tremble, she was petrified with fear. It soon walked off into the darkness of the town.

Eventually, she had enough control to glance back at the other two people with her who were similarly petrified with fear. "Monmon we need to get out of he-" before she could finish that sentence, the sound of something landing on the roof above them cut her off. Kirche had no doubt that it was another one of these demons.

After several moments of waiting the demon seemed to run off. Turning back to the scared girl she continued. "We have to get out of here." The blonde slowly nodded.

"The back exit is over here." The water mage raised her shaking arm point to another room.

Readying her wand she approached entered the room, it seemed to be mostly for storage with food and various drinks being stored here. Ignoring that she went straight for the door attempting to open it.

The door was suddenly kicked open throwing her to the ground. She quickly looked up at her attacker finding that it was one of the demons, only slightly different, this one was more hunched over in a predatory stance, instead of a gun it carried blades in each of its hands.

Kirche gazed up at the demon petrified with fear once more, as it seemed to growl at her in that same horrific metallic tone.

Finally remembering the wand in her hand, she took aim at the demon quickly reciting a dot fireball spell. The demon pounced on the women, it's arm cocked back with the blades ready to pierce her heart. The fireball left the wand, impacting the demon in the chest. It seemed to have no effect as the demon continued its attack.

Kirche felt time slow down as her mind slowly began to accept its demise, this was it, this was how she was going to die, not of old age, or fighting off some bandits, but to a demon in a town far away from home. Closing her eyes, awaited the void to greet her. But death never came. Opening her eyes, she found the blade right up against her face.

"Kirche move please." Guiche gritted out. Looking back at her attacker, Kirche now noticed all the bronze golems holding the beast back by its arms and chest. Quickly she crawled away from the demon until her back hit the wall a few feet away. Aiming her wand, she uttered another incantation, a torrent of fire burst from it engulfing both golems and the demon.

The demon began to spasm as it let out a sickening cry of pain. The back of the beast seemed to bubble before exploding. The now unoccupied suit of armour fell to the ground in a heap of metal. She kept her wand pointed at the armour as her arm shook with fear.

Slowly she regained her composure, rising to her feet. "W-w-we need to move, they know we're here." Guiche had made his way to the demon's corpse, slowly examining the metal it used. He seemed entranced by it as if it was the most spectacular thing out there. "Guiche?"

Kirche glanced down finding him seemingly shaking with fear as he attempted to pull a piece of metal off the corpse. He seemed to realize that someone was attempting to talk to him as he glanced up to look at the redhead. "S-s-sorry, it's just this metal. I-I-I-it shrugged off a fireball like it was nothing. I-I-I want to see if I can get a bit of metal to study." He stuttered as he pulled what seemed to be a shoulder plate from the body. Standing up he pointed towards the door with his rose shaped wand. "My golems can cause a distraction while we run."

It seemed like a good plan, but what if it just attracts more of them. "Monmon do you know any way to leave this town discreetly." the redhead asked the water mage, who simply stared at the corpse with utter horror on her face.

She slowly nodded. "Yes, when we founded this town we built a sewer system, but it was poorly designed causing it to back up constantly. We sealed it up, but on main street by the chapel there is a grate that we can use it to escape."

The redhead nodded before turning back to the earth mage. "Guiche, send your golems out the back door while we sneak out the front." The blonde nodded, quickly calling for more golems to raise from the ground.

Moving back to the door, she opened it slightly allowing her to see into the front of the inn. The demon was no longer there. Letting out a sigh of relief, she opened the door quickly making her way to the front gazing out the broken window at the town. It was empty, completely empty not a single soul in sight. Kirche began to feel the nervousness begin to overtake her once more. Where were they?

"We could always attempt to leave town the same way we entered it," Guiche whispered.

As she was about to comment on the earth mage's plan when a gasp came from the water mage, turning her head towards Montmorency she simply found her pointing, following her finger she found it led towards the town gate.

It was a demon like the one they just fought, the beast was dragging along an old man in a blue tunic by his head, streams of red rand down the tunic most likely from the wounds that he sustained. The creature continued to walk, ignoring everything in its path. The group watched in baited breath as it turned into where the chapel resided.

A loud bang could be heard from behind the group. Turning the group found nothing but a few moments later a metallic growl could be heard coming out of the back of the inn. "Guiche distraction now," Kirche stated. With a nod, he uttered a quick incantation causing the squad of golems to rush to the back of the inn their swords and spears at the ready. "Building across the street now!"

She hopped through the window followed by the two blondes. The trio quickly raced across the street as fast as possible. Quickly entering their new shelter, the redhead shut the door behind them before quickly moving into a back room.

She gazed around the room, it appeared to be some old blacksmithing shop as weapons, horseshoes and fishing hooks were stocked on the shelves that seemed to surround the room. The only light in the room was the moonlight that seemed to flutter in from the single window in the room. In the centre of the room was a workbench with a small hatchet stabbed into it. The bottom of which seemed to have a faint red glow that tugged at her.

Walking over it she grabbed the handle and immediately recognized the feeling. The hatchet had a flame core, used to enhance a fire mages power but what was it doing here? With a single movement, she yanked the hatchet from its hold, slowly examining the blade. Extending her arm, she aimed the hatchet, after a single word a small flame was ignited at the end of the hatchet.

Kirche was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a gasp from behind her. Turning she found Montmorency collapsed at the door with Guiche looking over her. "It was a trap." The water mage said in a barely audible

"What was that Monmon?" Guiche asked obviously concerned for the girl

The girl looked up, tears could be seen running down the girl's face. "This was a trap, and we walked into it."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"That man they were dragging off was the local water priest, and although he didn't look it he was an excellent fighter and had defended this village multiple times from bandits and the like. He most likely saw the beasts first and tried to run off or fight either way they killed him!"

"Wh-what are you getting at Monmon," Guiche asked in a lower tone.

The girl glared at the earth mage, her eyes full of fear of what was to come. "I'm saying that they let us into the town, were alive because they let us and we're going to die when they want us. They are toying with us!" The blonde shouted causing the other two to tense to tense up. The girl looked as if she was about to continue when he covered her mouth with his hand silencing her.

The group waited in silence for any evidence that they were discovered, the only sound to be heard was the muffled cries of the water mage.

A second passed, nothing

Two seconds passed nothing

Three seconds passed nothing

Four seconds passed, a subtle hum could be heard coming from the front of the store, sort of like a wind mage charging up a lightning spell. "Down!" The redhead shouted before jumping to the ground.

The earth mage saw this and jumped to the floor dragging the water mage with him. A single moment later the room exploded as a loud buzzing seemed to drown out the world.

She could feel the room begin to heat up as shattered wood pelted the redhead on the ground. A feminine scream could faintly be heard over the sound of combat.

As the onslaught continued the smell of smoke filled the redhead's nose, glancing to the side she found a fire had started in the back of the room. Knowing that she had to act fast, the fire mage slowly crawled to the now broken door, upon reaching the door, it blasted forward landing on top of the fire mage, ignoring the pain from the door she used it as cover to find her attackers.

Standing in front of the store was two demons with their guns raised, shooting out bullets at an incredible speed that glowed blue in the dark night.

Her mind worked on a plan as the flame behind her continued to get bigger. Her mind finally coming up with something caused Kirche to crawl back to the earth mage. "Guiche I need two golems, they are two demons in front of us if you send two on either side of the building and attack the demon we can probably kill them, then we make a break for the sewer!" The girl shouted over the loud buzzing sound.

The boy slowly nodded as sweat seemed to cover his face. Kirche turned her newly found hatchet to the window before sending a fireball right through it. Guiche seeing this, sent two rose petals out of the newly created hole, several moments later two new bronze Valkyries formed outside the window.

She once again crawled to the door as the noise stopped. One of the demons began to approach the group most likely to finish the job. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster and faster as the monster slowly approached her.

But before it could reach her, more buzzing rang out through the building before the sound of a pained metallic cry took its place. Looking passed the demon Kirche found the other demon with a bronze sword in its back.

Turning to aid its ally left the demon open to attack, Kirche seizing this opportunity promptly stood up and yelled out an incantation.

A huge torrent of flame emerged from the hatchet as it completely encasing the monster. It soon fell limp to the ground as the orange mass in the centre of the armour bubbled and exploded throwing flames around the room.

"We have to move now!" She shouted at the group. Quickly she rushed forward to the now broken window of the shop in order to gauge what the group needed to fight through.

"Leave me." The voice of a disheartened Montmorency said. Turning she saw the blonde gazing at her feet as she sat in that burning room.

"Montmorency this is no time for jokes we need to get out of here." The earth mage told the girl in an attempt to get her to move.

"Don't you get it!" The water mage snapped. "Were dead, we're done, out there is a bunch of demons that were able to sneak up on the water spirit, the same water spirit that could kill us with but a thought!" She bellowed with rage. "Do you think Louise, Tabitha or Professor Colbert are coming back?"

Kirche could feel herself clenching the hatchet harder. Walking over to the water mage, she grabbed her by the shirt, yanking her to her feet. Cocking her arm back, the redhead gave the girl a swift punch, before uttering yet another incantation which knocked the girl out. Keeping hold of the girl, She threw her over her shoulders. Turning back to the boy, Kirche could see the utter terror in his eyes. "Guiche we're going to run for it."

"Wh-wh-what!" The boy screamed at her.

"We're out of options, more demons are heading this way."

"Then what are we supposed to do, they are faster than us!?"

"I thought about it. We build a wall for cover as we run to the sewer. Not a good plan but the only one we got."

The boy stayed silent for a time seemingly weighing his options. "Fine, let's go."

Kirche now carrying the sleeping water mage, led Guiche to the front of the store. As Kirche looked out at the town she felt confused. She couldn't find a single demon anywhere, no red eyes, no silhouettes nothing. "Let's move." The duo left the blacksmithing shop slowly inching their way closer and closer to the chapel just a few buildings over.

But as she approached the chapel she began to feel the tension in the air. Just where were they, no matter where she looked she couldn't find a single demon. It was like the two they just fought were simply probing their defences seeing what they were capable of.

sweat began to slowly make its way down the side of her face, as she continued to move forward, her eyes scanning the environment for anything resembling an attack. The air around the fire mage seemed to grow heavy as she continued forward. The silence around her was deafening the only sound was the clacking of her boots on the stone road. Not a single other sounds could be heard.

The continued on eventually reaching the chapel. The grate could be seen in the front of the chapel, turning back to the earth mage, Kirche gave him a small nod, the boy pulled out his rose and uttered a small incantation.

Two walls formed in front of the group leading to the sewer's entrance. Quickly the two mages rushed forward not wanting to waste this small bit of respite that they somehow acquired.

As the group ran, a new sound could be heard. It was an extremely loud thumping as if a giant earth golem was walking towards them. Picking up the pace the group eventually made it to the grate, quickly aiming her hatchet, she cast a fireball which blew the ageing metal inwards.

The earth mage quickly entered climbing down the ladder into the darkness a splash of water confirmed the earth mages newfound safety. The thumping seemed to be getting even closer now, hearing this Kirche quickly brought the girl down from her shoulders before using levitate to lower her into the dark sewer.

"I got her, now get in here Kirche!" Guiche called out from the darkness.

But as she was about to enter the sewer, the wall to her left suddenly exploded, turning the girls vision dark as she was thrown into the air. she felt like she had flown for hours before finally landing with a resounding thud. Her ears rang as she tried continued to gaze into the void before her

"Kirche!" A voice said breaking through the ringing of her ears. Forcing open her eyes she caught sight of the two moons as they hung overhead, illuminating the ghost town she was in, looking around she found herself surrounded by the demons.

Suddenly grunting, She acknowledged the pain coming from all over her body, glancing down she found a large rock crushing her right leg. Using both her hands she had attempted to push the rubble off, her muscles screamed at her to stop, as she attempted to muster all of her strength.

The redhead reached up to her chest where she usually kept her wand, only to realized that she had forgotten it at the blacksmith. Glancing back over at her hatchet, Kirche Pushed through the pain as she reached out towards her hatchet, groaning as she tried to traverse the insurmountable distance between her hand and the hatchet.

A wave of relief filled her as she wrapped her fingers around the hatchet. Suddenly, a metal leg clamped down on her arm. She let out a cry of pain as it's metallic claws dug into her skin, causing her to clench onto the hatchet harder. Turning her head, she saw a demon towering over her, its head tilted slightly to the side as if seeing her on the ground before it was amusing.

The demon raised its arm as it opened its three-finger hand. The beast reached down, the girl felt the metal fingers wrap around her neck slowly raising her from the ground until she was above the demon's head.

She attempted to fight, grasping at the metal that was suffocating her, but it was ultimately fruitless.

All she could do is simply gaze into the demons red unblinking eyes in unwanted acceptance that this was where she was going to die, but at least she had saved the other two, they would amass the army needed to stop whatever these beasts were doing.

But out of the corner of her eye, she caught something that even now in her defeated stated caused her blood to run cold. It was another demon only it was huge, standing at least thirteen feet tall, in its left arm was a cannon while its right arm seemed to consist of three long pieces of blue metal that spun at a low speed.

The beast walked over to the sewer before aiming its cannon. A low hum rang in her ears as the cannon on its arm began to glow a bright blue. It fired with an echoing thud, the street not built for the punishment, caving under the attack.

Even while being choked by a demon she was able to comprehend what had happened, it was another trap. A moment later a demon hopped up from the sewer dragging both Guiche and Montmorency by their heads, the mages hung limply in its grip.

She felt the metal fingers around her neck grow tighter restricting her airflow completely. Her vision soon began to fade as she let her tears begin to flow, it had been useless Montmorency was right, these demons, they were too powerful, these were the ones who outsmarted a water spirit how were they supposed to escape from this?

As her vision turned black, she could feel the hatchet slip from her grip. A distant explosion, much like that of the pod with the musket-wielding demon, was faintly heard as her world became more and more distant.

Her world suddenly crashed back to her as she felt her body fall to the ground, her breathing was ragged as she laid on the ground attempting to catch her breath, slowly the girl raised to a kneeling state before bringing a hand to her throat finding that it hurt when she touched it.

Eventually, she began to look around, hoping to figure out why the demon had released her, the answer soon came as when she gazed up, she found the demon with its gun raised pointing at a pod that seemed to have just landed.

Still reeling from being nearly choked to death, her mind was suddenly flooded with images of her limp friends, glancing over to where she had last seen the demon carrying her friends, only to find the demon running off into the church with their bodies.

As she attempted to stand to run after them the pod exploded blanketing the street in smoke, nearly instantly the smoke was filled with blue light and the sound of extremely loud buzzing as a firefight broke out in the street. Kirche began to crawl around aimlessly in order to find her hatchet.

The smoke soon dissipated allowing Kirche to finally spot her hatchet. The girl quickly crawled over to it picking it up before turning back to the battle finding herself in complete shock. In front of her were four dead demons, their suits of armour completely void of their orange bodies. As she looked up, Kirche felt the world slow down as she realized who had been her saviour, Louise.

The small girl was running atop a building on the other side of the street towards the chapel in her now golden suit of armour, in her arms was a gun that the demons had been using. The girl fired the gun with unnatural accuracy taking down any demon she looked at.

They wouldn't be detruded so easily with the large demon firing that spinning cannon, its blue bullets illuminating the night, she could only gape when she saw that the bullets that had torn the shop they were in to pieces hardly affect Louise, with the biggest indication of damage being a small ripple in her golden aura and a loud thuk sound that rang in the redhead's ears.

The suited mage simply ignored the brute more interested in the three other demons guarding the church, but instead of simply shooting the demon's the girl just ran across the rooftop towards the at incredibly high speed.

As she neared the end of the roof she placed the gun on her back, the three demons' seeing her assault took a defensive position, using various parts of the church as cover, reaching the edge of the roof Louise gracefully leapt off while cocking her arm back landing several seconds later with a loud bang, the demon's that surrounded her had exploded leaving only a single demon hiding behind the door to the church. The girl reacted quickly pulling out her blade before stabbing it into the door impaling the demon on the other side.

Kirche sat back in awe at the battle it was as if she was viewing those stories of heroes taking on armies by themselves, except this was real and not some play put on by parents in order to entertain their child.

Kirche Slowly stood on her unstable legs, feeling the familiar feeling of blood running down the outside of leg Glancing down she found that her skirt had a massive cut in it with the fabric around it being damp with a liquid.

Bringing her hatchet up to her shoulder she made a quick cut at her shirts arm quickly tearing it off before wrapping it around the cut on her leg as a makeshift bandage. The redhead began to limp forward ignoring her muscles pleas for rest as the battle raged on.

With no other small demons to deal with she saw Louise turn her attention towards the large demon, beginning to sprint at it while pulling out the demon gun firing multiple shots at the demon who simply shrugged off the attack, simply returning his own volley of fire. Kirche didn't know if it was simply her eye's playing tricks on her, but she swore she saw Louise give her a slight nod. The girl rushed to the other side of the monster giving Kirche a perfect opening to get to the chapel.

Using her hatchet, she levitated herself over to the chapel's large doors before setting herself down wanting to conserve as much willpower as possible for the upcoming fight with the demon. Nearing the church, the redhead suddenly found herself doubling over in disgust nearly vomiting from the smell coming from the open doors of the chapel. It was truly a horrifying smell as if someone had mixed blood and decaying meat with rotten eggs. Covering her nose she continued forward into the chapel.

The chapel was blanketed in darkness making it hard for her to see, she was, however, able to make out the rows of seats that were on either side of the main aisle. As she moved forward she began to hear faint muttering, as she got closer to the seats she began to realize something, the chapel was full of people. Walking forward she continued to look around making sure that the demon wasn't going to sneak up on them, but as she began to walk into the aisle she could finally see the people around her.

"Please oh, mother ocean guide my child to the void." A woman who held a glob of goo in her hands wrapped up in a blanket like a baby.

"Fucking Germania, this is their fault probably working with these demons or something the heretics," A hardened man said as he attempted to hold his lower torso which appeared to be turning into a liquid.

"Where where's my hatchet, I can save us if I have my hatchet." A man said as he stumbled around his eyes swollen to the point where he couldn't see

As she gazed around she found something so horrific, so disgusting that the mere sight of it was enough to cause her to double over, at the end of the aisle was a huge pile of humans, all of them were melted together forming a large glop of pink matter. She wouldn't have been able to tell that it was human in origin if not for the occasional arm and leg sticking out of the pile. This was too much for the girl who had doubled over, clamping a hand onto her mouth as she felt bile run up into her mouth.

As the redhead continued to try and get her stomach under control, she could hear a metal scrapping from above her. She felt her blood run cold as the scraping became louder as if it was right on top of her, she could feel her breathing become shallow as her body began to quake with fear.

Slowly she turned her head upwards towards the dark roof of the chapel. Above her sat the demon hanging from the roof. The demon reacted to being spotted quickly lunging at the girl with its claws at the ready.

Her legs screamed at her as she dove forward, Kirche just barely dodged the demons attack. Kirche groaned as she hit the ground, quickly the redhead spun around raising her axe to unleash a torrent of fire. The demon reacted by jumping onto a pillar to his left, before once again lunging at the women. Turning the axe around Kirche muttered an incantation to a simple wind spell blowing her down the aisle and away from the demon.

As she laid on the ground, the demon turned towards her once more, she had an idea but wasn't so keen to put it into action. The demon lunged once more, ready to impale her, Kirche quickly reacted by pointing her axe at the beast.

Another torrent of fire spewed once more from the axe, engulfing the demon as it soared through the air. The demon seemed to shrug the attack off continuing to have its arm cocked back. Kirche slammed her eyes shut as she waited to be impaled by the monster.

But the pain never came, the only sound she could hear was the sizzle of the burning flesh. Slowly she opened her eyes, to her left was the beasts arm its blades stuck in the ground. Resting over her was the demon, who seemed to shudder in pain as his flesh continued to cook. Quickly she crawled out from under the beast, who soon collapsed under its own weight.

Kirche simply gazed at the burning body as it continued to sizzle due to the flames, she could feel the speed at which her heart was beating, slowing her already rapid breathing she could feel her body begin to relax, slowly the girl rose from her position, readying her axe for any other demons that laid in wait for her.

Walking forward she found herself face to face with the large pile of pink matter, she felt herself become more and more sick with each passing second of her staring at the pink matter, a small metal scraping sound caught her attention, causing her to quickly take a combat stance as she prepared for another attack that could come her way. The sound continued but nothing in her vision could be the source of it until she looked down.

At the base of the giant pink matter, it looked to be a giant metal beetle with a long mosquito like nose and tail, the creature was sticking its long needle-like nose into the matter, sucking it up before running off up a set of stairs that Kirche hadn't noticed was there.

Slowly she followed the beetle ascended the stairs, ready and waiting for anything. As she reached the top of the stairs she came to a cross-section, to her right was a doorway to some room but to her left was a dark pathway that overlooked the entire chapel.

As she was about to check out the room she heard faint sobbing. Turning around she began to rush down the pathway as fast as her damaged legs would carry her.

Kirche suddenly stopped as she finally made it to the source of sobbing, at her feet was a dead demon, a single clean slice along its still body, but in front of her, was a simple dark corner pulling out her axe Kirche ignited a flame allowing her to witness the scene before her.

In front of her was Guiche's body, two clearly defined holes in his chest surrounded by blood-soaked fabric. Above him was a broken Montmorency whose tears had carved a river down her face, the limp hand of guiche rested in her left hand while her other hand held her wand. Kirche watched as the girl muttered the same incantation over and over again through her sobbing, causing water to flow out of the wand and into his wounds, but no matter how many times she did it nothing happened, the wound didn't close up and the boy didn't move.

Kirche slowly approached the girl in order to consul her when a torrent of water blasted her away, the redhead landed moments later sliding to a complete stop. "Go away!" The faulty voice of Montmorency shouted at her.

Slowly the redhead stood once more. "Monmon pleas-"

Another torrent of water flew at the fire mage only for Kirche to just barely dodge it. "Don't call me that!" The girl shouted once more between her sobs. "Just leave us alone." She said in a softer tone.

Kirche felt a tear leave her eye as she tightened her grip on her axe. "Montmorency this church isn't safe we still don't know if we've dealt with all the demons,"

Montmorency seemed to tighten her grip on the earth mages hand. "I'll defend him, like he had done for me and then when my water magic heals him and he wakes up, we'll leave and drop out of school and get married, like what was arra-" The girl broke down into sobs once more, unable to fully handle the situation presented to her.

Kirche couldn't help but sympathize with the girl, she had never been in a life or death situation before and for her first fight to end in such tragedy. Kirche glanced back at the body finding herself coming to tears once more, he didn't deserve this. The clanking of armour could be heard from behind the fire mage, quickly she turned around raising her axe for any possible threat, only to find a pair of Guiche's Valkyries walking towards them.

"Montmorency, I'll leave you with him, but please, when the golems run out of willpower. Please leave." Kirche told the water mage, her voice nearly breaking several times. With that Kirche walked passed the two Valkyries eventually leaving the chapel.

She quickly found Louise hanging off her sword that was implanted in the large demon's back, her gun could be seen some distance away broke in two. it attempted to shake her off but to no effect. She watched as Louise climbed the back until she rested on the monsters shoulder.

She grabbed hold of its helmet as her golden aura turned slightly red. The beast let out a fearful shriek as it fought harder to get her off. but it was no use as she ripped its helmet off revealing the deep red face of the demon. She quickly grabbed hold of its head with both hands and quickly crushed it.

The large suit of armour stumbled forward, before collapsing.

Louise stepped off of the beast, before turning and looking at her. She couldn't help but notice the goo that covered her golden suit. Louise began to walk forward passed the fallen armour of demons.

"Kirche what happened. I saw that demon dragging both Montmorency and Guiche into the chapel." The suited mage asked her as soon as she got close enough to hold a conversation. When Kirche refused to answer Louise simply narrowed her eyes. "Kirche tell me, what happened."

She opened her mouth to speak, but felt the words refusing to leave her mouth, she honestly couldn't put it into words. She cursed herself, she knew death but she couldn't even say that their friend had been killed. Louise glared at the redhead" Fine I'll just go find out myself."

but as Louise walked passed her, she extended an arm placing a hand on the girl's chest stopping her.

"Don't. Montmorency is grieving right now." She could feel a weight on her chest.

Louise could only stare wide-eyed at the girl. "Y-y-you don't mean." Upon seeing the solemn on her face Louise caught the hint.

"Louise, the water spirit wishes to see you."

The pair turned towards the new voice, finding a soaked Colbert carrying Tabitha. looking at the shameful expression on his face it was clear that he had heard their conversation.

With nothing left to say, Louise walked off to the dock.

Kirche turned back to the professor. "We need to burn down the town the things that happened here, shouldn't be seen by anyone.

xXXXx

High above the town on a cliffside road, King Joseph sat atop his carriage beaming with excitement as he watched the town with his spyglass. He had finally confirmed it, Louise de la Valliere was capable of using their weapons against them, something that was completely unheard of until now.

This was a turning point, for the past several years he had been preparing for the next ceph incursion, but deep down he knew that it wouldn't be enough. There was no way for Halk to survive it, all of his preparation was pointless. But this, this was something else, a turning point, a future for all of humanity.

Gripping a goo soaked blade he Hopped off the carriage he landed by several Ceph corpses. Turning he opened the door to his carriage revealing a terrified maid. "Let us head back to the castle Chausson, my business here is done."

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Not much different again, just some editing as well as an extra small fight after Kirche leaves the church. Although I have to wonder if I was half asleep when writing this originally due to the fact that there were so many simple mistakes.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoyed it and have a great day.**_


	10. Chapter 10: The cure

The trip from the lake was done in silence but unlike the trip from Damhal, it was due to the fact that there was nothing to be said. This was exacerbated by the fact that Montmorency had decided to leave the group, heading home with Guiche's body.

When the group finally arrived at the academy, it was dusk, they had returned the stolen horses and Kirche who was now covered in bandages was courted off to the water tower leaving Louise and Tabitha to walk off to the wind tower.

She walked through the hallway to her old room, on her was Derf, her bow and quiver but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to yesterday. The water spirit had graciously given her a tear in return for her help, but was it worth it, because of her suit a person died. She gazed down at the wine bottle in her hand, in it was the key to cure her mind of the suit's influence.

She thought back to the sight of Kirche when she had left the church. Her face was marred with dust with several small cuts on her face, her shirt sleeve with trails of blood that ran down the girl's arm, her tattered clothes, the way she limped, it was all her fault. She glanced back at the wine bottle.

She reached her door, swiftly opening it. Walking into her room she snapped her fingers causing the candles around the room to light up. Tossing her bow and quiver onto the table, she moved over to her desk only to notice a large pile of papers. With a sigh, Louise placed a wine bottle on the desk.

Ignoring the pile of paper, she undid the belt that held her sword. There was one thing that has been angering her since she had left Lagdorian Lake, it had been the same thing that had angered him after saving the princess, she didn't feel anything, not for putting her friends in danger, not for causing Guiche's death, nothing! Turning with a sudden fury she flung the sword across the room impaling the wall across from her.

Turning she saw her reflection in her mirror. She only had this suit for just over a week and what had happened, she went from a small scared child to a demon-slaying machine who didn't feel remorse for the danger she put her friends in. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself, she had what she needed to fix this, all she needed to do now is find a new brewer to brew the potion.

"Maid help, my owner is abusing me!" Her sword suddenly shouted. Turning to the door confused she found a terrified Siesta simply staring at her while holding a tray of food in her hands.

She felt her anger subside as she looked at the maid "Hey Siesta." Louise said as she walked over to her sword pulling it out of the wall.

The maid quickly regained her composure as she walked over to her table, quickly moving the bow and quiver before setting down the tray. "Sit and tell me what happened on your trip."

"Please, Siesta you probably have plenty of other things that you need to do."

The maid simply shook her head. "Friends come first, now sit down tell me what happened."

She couldn't help but smile, walking over to the table before sitting down and explaining what had happened. Siesta seemed to beam with excitement when Louise told her how she saved a water spirit. But that excitement soon turned to horror when she learned of Guiche's passing

"Founder, I'm sorry that you had to go through that." The maid said softly.

"It's fine, well not really, my suit suppresses my emotions, but thanks to what's in this wine bottle I should be able to fix it."

"Well, at least you seem to be taking it well."

She reached out onto the trey grabbing a wine glass filled with the purple vintage before drinking the entire glass in one swig. "No matter how hard I try I can't feel bad for Guiche's death." Louise could feel her grip around the glass tighten as she felt a wave of anger wash over her. "It makes me feel like a monster."

"Louise you are the last person I-"

"Would call a monster, yeah I know, it's easy to say but when one of the people that decided to help you dies along the way and you feel nothing, it's hard not to feel like that"

An uncomfortable silence weighed down on the two girls as Louise began to eat the food siesta had brought for her.

"So, what happened after?" Siesta asked

"Kirche got bandaged up, we set up camp, and we came home the day after." She paused as she poured herself another glass of wine. "But its odd, ever since I fought the demons, my suit feels different."

"Different how?"

"I don't really know, it feels like a second layer of skin, I feel more in tune with it in combat."

"Yeah, no kidding." The sword broke in. "You should have seen her, this big brutish demon knocks the gun out of her hand so in retaliation she hops onto its back while repeatedly stabbing me into it over and over again until it collapsed."

Louise let out a tired sigh. "Thanks, Derf for telling my friend here about something I willfully omitted." She deadpanned.

"That's it!" Louise could only blankly stare at the mage who was now standing up. "Louise come to Tarbes with me." She told the pink haired girl.

"What, why?"

"My grandfather has a suit like yours, maybe he can help you."

Louise narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me this before? And besides, I need to cure my mind first before I start worrying about how my suit is changing."

"Then that's perfect, Tarbes has a water mage that specializes in brewing potions."

She could only blankly stare at the maid. "Why does your village have a water mage?"

"Tarbes is a farming village, and when it comes time to harvest he makes us stamina potions to aid in the harvesting process, as well as using magic to maintain the irrigation canals."

Louise thought about it for a moment. "That sounds good but I have class and you have work."

The maid shook her head. "Schools closed for the next few months."

Louise could only stare in shock before quickly regaining her composure. "What do you mean!?"

"Yesterday, while you were gone a large number of carriages barring the royal symbol, came by and arrested most of the high-ranking staff. They said that they would be in custody while they perform an investigation on how the assassin got a job at the academy." The raven-haired girl explained.

"Wait so who was arrested?"

"Osmond, most of the teaching staff, Blanche the head maid, Marteau, basically anyone with the power to hire people."

"Guess that means summer vacation started early."

"And that means that I'm dragging you off to Tarbes in the morning." The maid said with a beaming smile.

"Aren't you worried the head maid and Marteau?"

The maid shook her head. "If the rumours surrounding the princess about her treatment of commoners are true then I have nothing to worried about."

Louise took a moment to think about it, she had remembered how the princess always spoke to the commoner staff with respect no matter what their rank was. She would catch the maids leaving her room after cleaning it and say thank you with a bow. During one of her birthday parties, she'd even taken a moment to thank the staff who had worked hard.

Shaking her head, she brought herself back to reality. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Well I guess that settles it," the maid suddenly stood up quickly picking up the empty tray. "I'll be back for you in the morning." She quickly turned and left.

With the maid now gone silence quickly overtook the room. Sighing, Louise let her head fall back onto the back of the chair. Her room had only just gotten fixed and now she was leaving again.

"Busy day ahead huh partner." Her sword quipped from the tableside.

Her face twisted into a scowl "Last one thankfully after I cure myself of my suits influence I'm going to retire from all this warrior business."

"Even though you're so good at it?"

"Especially because I'm so good at it. I don't feel anything when someone around me dies, couple that with my ability to kill and you get a recipe for disaster." She explained.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"Huh?"

"You know, what happens if you take the antidote and it doesn't fix it?"

She hadn't thought of that, what if she can't fix it, would she be able to live her life as the monster she's becoming, unable to form bonds due to how easily she can break them? Her face twisted into a frown.

"Hey, don't let that get you down, a few of my partners were in situations like yours."

"What do you mean?" She asked the blade.

"They were brought up never wanting to fight but due to circumstances were forced to." The sword grew silent for a time before continuing. "There was a boy, Smith was his name and he was my youngest wielder at twelve."

The girl sprung up in surprise at the age. "twelve! Who in their right mind would let a twelve-year-old wield you."

"Sadly, my owner at the time, the boy was, conscripted to become my owner's guard."

"Who would entrust their life to a twelve-year-old!"

"My owner saw potential in him, but getting back on track, the boy was so scared, given this responsibility to protect a man nearly ten years his senior. Something changed during his first battle, he became a demon he cut through any who caught his attention, his enemies ran at the mere sight of him, he felt powerful but at the same time he was scared of what he became."

She could see the parallels begin to form. "What happened."

"My owner guided him, showed him the path that laid in front of him, and although reluctant at first, took up the mantle of King Francis's royal knight."

The girl could only gape at the sword. "Wait, the king Francis, the one that ran Germania out of Tristian over a thousand years ago!?"

The sword chuckled, "Yep that would be the one, although Smith did have a large hand in pushing back the Germanian hoards."

"So, what had happened to Smith, he was never mentioned in the stories I've heard?"

"Well, he grew up, had a wife several children, but was eventually killed when he took a poison arrow for meant for the king."

She thought about it for a moment. "So, what you're saying is that I should find someplace to focus my attention or guide me."

The sword hummed in agreement. "Yep, can't really do bad things if you're constantly protecting someone," The girl felt a smile tug at her lips once more it was rare but sometimes Derf knew just what to say. "I mean you can but I've seen how you are towards the princess, I doubt you would ever willingly hurt her."

"Bu-"

"But nothing, if the worse comes to worse I'll stop you."

"How do you intend to do that?" She asked.

"Well your suit is magical, so if you ever raise me against someone you shouldn't I'll just suck the magic out of you until you can barely walk, hard to kill someone when your legs aren't working."

"So, I guess I'm heading to Tristian if my trip to Tarbes doesn't work out." She said dryly. Standing up she reached down picking up the blade before walking over to the bedside.

"I'm not saying that the potion of yours won't work, I'm just trying to make sure you have a plan in place just in case. I've seen too many of my partners end up dead because they didn't think to make a plan B." the sword said as it was placed down by the bed

"I know Derf, I'm just worried" Turning Louise snapped her fingers causing the candles to go out. She then stared at the covers before glancing down at her dirt covered boots. With a sigh she grabbed a pillow off of her bed, lowering herself to the floor she placed the pillow on the floor by Derf before falling asleep.

xXXXx

The sun was high in the sky by the time the duo had reached the border of Tarbes. Louise had brought along her bow, Derf a bag that held the wine bottle and a small pouch of coin, Siesta had discarded her maid uniform for a brown dress the ran down to just above her ankles. The trip began to slow down as people who were working the fields had begun to take notice of Siesta. Stopping them to say hello and asking what we were doing here. All in all, it took them another half hour before they were even able to see the village proper.

From what she had told her on the way, the village was small only having around a population of a hundred and fifty but like with most of the villages in Tristian the actual village was much smaller housing a population of fifty-four with Siesta's family being the largest family and the most powerful right behind the lord.

Curious she asked the maid just how large her family was but when Siesta had told her that she was the eldest of nine with another on the way, her jaw nearly unhinged. Her mind couldn't comprehend it, she knew peasants had large families but nine children, a small smile formed on her face as she thought of home life with seven other cattleya's, her smile then twisted into a frown as her mind thought of the same situation but with her other sister.

She was suddenly taken from her thought as a new smell entered her nose, it was the smell of butter and wheat, the smell of fresh bread. "Oh my, it seems we arrived at a good time." The girl next to her suddenly grabbed her forcing her to stop. Turning, Louise caught sight of the maid.

"Louise you have to try Michele's pastries it is simply to die for." She was suddenly dragged off by the girl with unseen strength. Louise couldn't help but smile as the two closed in on the town, it wasn't fair she was supposed to be mad about feeling nothing but Siesta seemed to exude an aura of happiness.

The two eventually reached the town, but before Louise could even take a moment to look around, she was whisked away into one of the first buildings in town. "Ah Siesta, what a pleasant surprise." Slowly regaining her bearings, Louise looked around. In front of her was a counter lined with various pastries which smelled amazing, behind the counter was a large woman with curly red hair, who wore a large brown dress with a cooking apron draped in front of it. "If I had known that simply making my sweet buns would have brought you back, I would have made it a while ago." The baker said with a smile.

The maid chuckled. "Come on Michele, there isn't a single person in Tarbes that can resist your cooking."

The baker turned towards Louise. "Well let's make sure that's still true." The baker reached over and grabbed one of the buns before tossing it to Louise who caught it. She looked down at the pastry in her hands, confused.

"Go on, eat it," Siesta said with a smile.

Slowly she brought the bread to her mouth before taking a quick bite. It was divine, the buttery sweet taste of bread filled her mouth, her body seemed to quake with pleasure as she finally swallowed the food. Louise quickly looked at the rest of the bun like a beast who hadn't eaten in days, quickly she tore through the rest of the bread leaving nothing but crumbs.

She soon realized how she had acted. She glanced at Siesta finding her staring wide-eyed at her while the baker only chuckled. In a small fit of shame, she reached to her wallet, hoping to simply ignore what had happened and hope it would all go away.

"You needn't pay for that one sweetie. First one is always free." The baker winked as she turned back to the other girl. "So, I'm guessing you're off to see your grandfather."

"Yep, have you seen him?"

Before the baker could answer, Louise spoke up cutting her off. "How did you know?"

The baker once again chuckled, "You're wearing the same suit, well not exactly the same you're missing that green armour that covers his body and shoulders." The baker brought a hand up to her chin as she seemed to ponder something, "Also the colour is off. Now to answer your question Siesta no I don't, if I had to guess he's probably sitting at home overseeing the vineyard."

"Thank you anyways." She turned to face Louise a smile still a bright as ever. "Come on Louise lets go see my grandpa."

"Wait!" Michele suddenly shouted. Turning the two girls saw the baker as she pulled out a tray full of the sweet buns. "Your father came by today and helped clean out the chimney, I had wanted to pay him but he turned it down, if you happened to show up with these I doubt he could turn it down."

Siesta walked up with a smile before realizing she still had her suitcase. "Let me," Louise told her as she walked up and grabbed the suitcase from her hands, turning back to the baker with a new smile on her face Siesta grabbed the trey in both hands. "I'll make sure he doesn't."

The two turned to leave. "Oh stranger, you best hope none of the children see you in that suit."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"If the children catch you walking around in your magical suit they will be pestering you as to where you got it."

"I'll keep that in mind." She replied before leaving. They soon emerged from the baker finding themselves on the main street of the town. Louise could feel the tranquil atmosphere all around her. Across from her was what she assumed to be a shoemaker talking with a guy who was missing a boot.

"Come on my house is just down this road." Siesta began to walk away from her, quickly Louise followed behind her as she began to walk down the main street, following the maid, she taking in the town around her. Buildings lined the street hosting all matters of goods.

She could see pelts being hung in the window to her right. To her left, she found a couple of women holding a conversation in front of what appeared to be a tailor, they soon stopped as one of the women pointed towards her.

This town was obviously going through an expansion if she remembered anything from those economic classes her father gave her it was that you needed a sizable population in order to maintain these businesses.

But as the two walked down the street she found all eyes were on her, no matter where she looked someone eyeing her, she felt embarrassed. However, the building at the end of the road caught her attention, it was large most likely belonging to the local lord, but what confused her was that there was no wall or anything to aid in the defense of the building, she originally wrote it off thinking that it was simply a business that had a lot of capital but as the two approached it she found no signage indicating such.

It was only when Siesta began walking towards the door that she had realized that this was Siesta's house. The maid skipped to the door, knocking on it gleefully. Slowly regaining her mental footing, Louise took up position beside the maid as she knocked on the door.

Several moments later the door was opened revealing a woman, she was tall with long raven hair like Siesta's and wore a large green dress with an apron covering the women's bulging stomach. Siesta quickly raised the tray of goods as the women who she assumed was the girl's mother quickly lunged at her pulling her into a hug "Oh Siesta it's so good to see you."

"H-h-hi mother."

The women pulled back as she seemed to realize what Siesta had been holding. "Oh, let me take that." The women quickly grabbed the tray before turning and rushing back inside.

She followed Siesta as they entered the house, Louise was completely shocked by how nice this house was, the foyer she found herself in contained a staircase in front of her with two rooms on either side. The room on her left was a sitting room with a few couches situated around fireplace on the other side of the room. The room on her right was obviously the eating room, with a large table that could easily sit the large family.

The two girls walked down the hallway passing through the well-furnished foyer and into the back of the house where she found a large kitchen to her right. Entering the room, Louise was once again floored by just how much money this peasant family had. At the other end of the room was a giant oven, the fire roared as it heated the caldron above it. The two girls found the women at the island that was in the center of the room, her mouth full of the buttery bread.

The girl beside her only sighed. "Cravings?"

The women only nodded while swallowing. "Yes." Wiping her mouth, she walked up to the confused Louise, while holding out her hand. "I'm Maria."

"Louise." Reaching out she grabbed the women's hand

The women smiled. "I'm to assume that you were the one to bail my daughter out of trouble, right?" She nodded, "Well I have to thank you." suddenly she yanked the girl closer as she examined her armour. "Yep, it even has the small hexagonal pattern. Well, your grandfather is out on the patio watching the boys work." The women pointed behind her at a door located on the other side of the room.

"Thanks, mother. Come on Louise" Siesta smiled as she walked passed.

Doing as she was told she followed the maid, soon finding herself on a beautiful patio that overlooked a near endless field of berry bushes. In front of her was a table that could seat several people, an umbrella at its center shielding the old man who sat at the table. Siesta ran up to the man "Grandpa!" She shouted startling the old man who was obviously asleep.

"Ah what are you doing here Siesta?" The man said in an odd accent that she couldn't quite place.

"The schools closed while a royal investigation takes place."

The man slowly got out of the chair, Louise couldn't help but take notice at just how tall he was, was everyone in her family tall?, the man was wearing a simple brown shirt and pants. He reached out to the maid, pulling the girl into a tight hug. "It's good that your back. How was the library?"

"Very large, I spent a large amount of my free time just looking for books while I was there."

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time." The man glanced over at her allowing her to finally see the man, he was obviously military by the way he stood but his face was different. His face was round and wide, with thin eyes that commanded respect from those around him, covering his head was thin grey hair signalling his age. "Siesta why don't you get us something to drink."

"Alright, grandpa." Siesta ran back into the house leaving Louise alone with the man.

"Now I know you must have questions but I have one of my own." The man turned towards her. "Where did you get that suit?"

She felt tiny under his gaze. "I s-s-summoned it as my familiar, sir." She meekly sputtered out.

The man stared at her for in complete silence several before bursting out in laughter. She could only look on in confusion as the man doubled over trying his best to contain his laughter. He seemed to settle down after several moments before looking at her once more, which caused him to laugh even harder.

Her fear was quickly forgotten as anger took its place. "What's so funny!"

The man's laughing slowed as he attempted to speak. "It's just that, my country nearly bankrupted themselves making suits like yours. I'm just thinking of the poor person whose suit just got stolen. It would be like emptying the entire royal coffer to create a magical weapon only for it to be summoned by a child in a rival country." The man said finally regaining control over his laughter.

Had she stolen it? She could feel the guilt begin to wash over her. Wait, child!?

"Ah don't worry about it, you'll probably never meet the people who you stole it from." The man walked over to a chair before pulling it out. "Sit, I'm sure you have questions about the suit."

"Wha? How did you know?"

The man chuckled. "If there is one thing I learned about my granddaughter in her seventeen years of her life, it's that she can be too damn helpful. So she probably told you about how I have a suit like yours" She walked up, sitting in the chair that was provided to her. The man rounded the table sitting at the other end. "Now what do you want to know?"

Louise stared at the man wanting to start spouting questions left and right about what her suit could do what it meant about perfect soldiers, but as she sat there she found the words clump in her throat.

The man let out a sigh. "Ok let me ask you this, what was the first issue you found with the suit?"

She looked away from the man. "It was when I came across the princess being attacked by bandits, I killed most of them and saved the princess. But when I got back to the academy I realized that I felt nothing, no remorse no regret that."

"And that was the first time you took a person's life?" She nodded. "I see, and I assume that you're looking for a way to fix that?" She nodded once more.

"I and a group of friends ventured to the water spirit in order to procure a water spirit tear, it was a missing ingredient in the potion that would fix this, allow me to feel what a normal person should feel."

The man looked down at the table as he let out another sigh. "I'm afraid that you have wasted your time."

She felt a wave of anger wash over her as she shot up slamming her hands on the table as she did. "What!?"

"Your suit wasn't made by my people, but I do know where it originates, I know for a fact it's not magical. Whatever cure you think will work, it won't."

She clenched her hands in anger. "You, you're lying. This suit is obviously magical. If it wasn't how could I turn invisible, increase my strength, speed and reflexes." He had to be if he wasn't then there would be no way for her to be cured, no way for her to feel normal again, no way for her to be able to live her own life.

The man looked out to the vineyard. "Jeremie!" Several moments later a boy with short blonde hair ran out of the vineyard

"What is it, grandpa?" The boy said with a smile. "Could you go get uncle Grandjean for me."

"Yes, sir." The boy said before walking off

"Oh, and make sure he brings his ingredients for a soldier potion antidote."

"I'll make sure."

Louise could only stare at the man. How did he know that was what she came here for?

The man turned back towards her. "If the suit is magical like you say, then this should cure you."

xXXXx

Louise sat at the table for what seemed like hours, a glass water rested in front of her with siesta sitting between the two suit users. Although the scene was peaceful with Siesta simply sitting there a smile on her face and the man who had gone back to gazing at the fields of berries, her mind wasn't, it was running in overdrive as the truth became more and more clear, Derf was right. The man in front of her had a suit, or at least everyone in this town thought he had a suit like hers. But it wasn't him telling her that it wouldn't work it was the confidence of which he spoke, as if he had gone down this route before.

"Look, Jung, we both know this isn't going to work so-." A voice suddenly caught the trio's attention who turned to look at the new arrival. A man stood at the side of the house, his blue tunic and pentagram signalling to her that this was the brewer that Siesta was talking about. In the man's hands was a suitcase most likely containing his alchemy set. The man was bald his forehead seemed to contain waves of skin that formed his wrinkles. He stared at her, his blue eyes looked shocked at the sight of the suit.

"Great uncle Lucas!" Siesta suddenly shouted hopping up to hug the man.

The man was somewhat surprised by the raven-haired girl but returned the hug none the less. "It's good to see you Siesta, how have you been."

"Very good."

"That's nice." The man turned back to the two suit users, his smile almost instantly disappeared. The man let out a groan as he brought a wrinkled hand to his forehead. "I'm assuming she's like you?"

Jung let out a chuckle. "More than you would like."

Lucas walked over to the table setting his suitcase on it before flicking it open. With a sigh, he fished out a bottle of green coloured liquid. "I assume you have the water spirit tear?"

Jung gestured to Louise, startling her, she nodded before reaching down into her bag, quickly pulling out a wine bottle setting it down on the table in front of Lucas. "Is this enough."

he picked it up and examined it. He let out a small chuckle. "This is way more then you need." He shook his head. "I don't know what you did to get the water spirit to give you this much and I'm not even going to ask." The man turned back to his alchemy set and quickly mixed the incomplete potion with the water from the wine bottle. The potion sizzled as the colour changed to a light blue. He glanced up to face Jung "Should I warn her?"

He simply shook his head.

"Alright." The man turned towards Louise a potion in hand. "Here."

Standing up she approached the man before slowly reached out taking the potion from the man. She gazed down at the potion now in her hands, the cure to the mind magic affecting her, but even Lucas said it wouldn't work. She felt a knot in the pit of her stomach, no this was no time for doubt. She raised the bottle to her mouth drinking it all in a single swig.

"Siesta you might want to go inside." Jung suddenly told the maid. Louise suddenly felt anxiety begin to rise up once more

"But-"

"Now!" He commanded.

The maid sulked off leaving Louise alone with the two old men. Louise briefly wondered what was going to happen when she began to tremble. She gazed down at her shaking hands, what was happening to her? She felt tears begin to run down her face, reaching up she touched the liquid with her gloved hand.

She suddenly collapsed to the ground as she began to heave, her mind was filled with images of her killing the bandits, she felt herself return to that battle remembering things that she didn't before. Their screams of agony, the smell of gunpowder. Their pleading. The fire mage screaming "What in founder name are you!" The snapping of his neck.

She had done this, she had snuffed out their existence. She was a monster.

"Was it your fault that they died?" A male voice pulled from her thoughts she looked up, finding herself in that same grey void that she dreamt about a few day ago. In front of her was a man she could tell by his size but she couldn't make out his face, he wore a suit just like hers

She briefly wondered who this man was but simply ignored it. "Of course, it's my fault. I-I killed them." She told the man as tears continued to stream down her face.

"Why did you kill them?"

"B-b-because I'm a monster. I could have talked to them, done anything other than kill them to stop them" She stated

"Do you actually believe the shit that comes out of your mouth?" He said in a mocking tone

"What!" She shouted as she rose to her feet

"You heard me."

She raced towards the man cocking a punch. Only for the man to burst into a blinding white light that consumed the world around her.

Her mind raced forward, confronting her with a new sight.

"Stop it!" She shouted as she realized that she was back in the town where Guiche died

She stood in front of the church, the sight of Montmorency carrying his limp body out of the church filled her vision. Her cries of pain rang in her ears as she begged for him to return.

Montmorency looked over at her. "Your fault."

She collapsed to the ground once more. This was her fault, if she hadn't asked for help he wouldn't have ended up dead if she just kept her mouth shut.

"This is your fault." Glancing up she found Guiche standing over her, he reached down gripping her throat with his cold hands lifting her up. She attempted to fight, attempted to use her suit but found that none of it worked.

"Why are you fighting, this is your fault remember?" The male voice chided once more.

She felt the boys fingers tighten around her throat, constricting her airway.

As she continued to fight she began to notice the world begin to turn white.

"Well, it looks like the suit is back online. I'll see you later pink." The male voice said as the world evaporated around her.

 _ **FOREIGN SUBSTANCE DETECTED, PURGING.**_

She suddenly found herself looking at the tiles of the patio once more. She felt pain from all over her body as if her blood was on fire.

Slowly she rose to her feet once more, a wave a fatigue washed over her. She grabbed onto the table for support as the fatigue passed.

"You see what I mean when I said it wouldn't work," Jung told her.

She simply ignored him as she brought a gloved hand to her face. "I-I need to leave. Give Siesta my thanks." With that She simply walked off, the two older men doing nothing to stop her.

She was out of the town before her sword finally spoke up. "You want to talk about it."

"No, I'm just going to follow your advice, were heading to the Tristian."

xXXXx

Kirche let out a short groan as her body began to enter the waking world. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself in a dark room, attempting to sit up caused her to become acutely aware of the restraints holding her in place. "Hello!" She shouted to the seemingly empty room after several moments of silence she attempted to move, as a sense of dread began to fill her senses. She continued to fight with the restraints for what seemed like hours, each moment that passed she became more and more feral.

The room suddenly lit up as the roar of fire filled the silence. She was finally able to see her body, she was covered in runes her legs her arms her body every piece of her body was branded with text. She let out a cry of pain as she felt each one burn as if she had just received them. She clenched the bed with both her hands as hard as she could as the burning filled her senses.

She heard an unseen door open before the sound of boots approached her, she tried to look over to see who had arrived only to find her head now strapped in place. After a few moments three dark figures came into view, surrounding her. The centermost one held a shimmering red orb. Her breathing picked up as the people began to chant in some foreign language. She had wanted to scream to call out for help, but when she tried she found her mouth was gagged.

The figures began to chant faster and faster as the orb seemed to glow brighter than before. The fourth finally came out into her field of view, in his hand was a piece of steel, the end of which was inscribed with a rune which glowed bright orange.

She struggled against the restraints as she attempted to get away from the bright orange metal. A new restraint was placed on her head keeping it in place. She tried with all her might to get away from the metal, but it was no use. The orange metal got closer as the chanting became drowned out everything else.

Kirche woke up screaming in a cold sweat. She quickly looked around, realizing that she was no longer in that dark room, She was surrounded by a white cloth and the chanting was replaced with the sounds of birds. She let herself fall back onto the bed as she let out a sigh of relief.

glancing down at her body she found the runes that covered her body had returned. "Miss Zerbst are you ok?" A feminine voice called out to her. Kirche stared wide-eyed at the curtains as the sound of clacking heels approached her. Glancing over to the table next to her, she found her hatchet, she quickly reached out and grabbed makeshift wand before muttering an incantation, her body was consumed with light for a moment, soon fading to revile her immaculate tanned skin.

The curtain was pulled back revealing a young blonde-haired woman who wore a white nurse gown.

"I-It's nothing." Kirche stated hoping that the girl would simply leave.

"Well, that is certainly right. Colbert had made a big deal out of nothing when he first brought you here." The women once she saw the confused expression on the redheads face continued. "What I'm trying to say is that Colbert over exaugurated the seriousness of your wounds, all you really had was minor cuts and bruises, which means your free to go."

The women reached back into the curtains to some unseen table, turning back she held a new female uniform for her. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it, oh before I forget, no strenuous activity for the next few days, you don't want to make those cuts worse." The women turned and walked off leaving Kirche alone.

She quickly got dressed and left the infirmary.

As she walked towards the wind tower she found herself distracted as her mind thought back to yesterday. She had failed, her plan had failed, she had failed people who entrusted their lives with her. Was this all she was good for, getting people killed. A sudden feeling of rage overtook her clenching her fist as she rushed to her destination.

She found herself at the wind tower's doors in a sudden fury she flung the doors open hastily rushed up the stairs to her room. Reaching it she slammed the door shut as she entered. Her rage beginning to fill her senses, she needed to vent. Rushing over to her window she flung it open before raising her hatchet. A huge torrent of fire burst from the axe, Kirche felt her anger began to subside as the huge amount of willpower began to leave her body.

After several minutes of nonstop fire, she lowered the hatchet as she felt the fatigue begin to take over. She couldn't stay here, it wasn't safe for the people around her. Turning around she took in her room. The place where she had spent the past year and a half. Facing to the bed to her left she walked over to it before crouching down. Reaching underneath the bed, she pulled out a chest.

She reluctantly gazed down at the chest, knowing that opening it would undoubtedly end her peaceful life at the academy, she could ignore this, simply sweep it away, pretend that nothing happened. But deep down she knew she couldn't, that life died when she told Montmorency to check out the town. Opening the chest, she found her old set of armour that she wore before leaving Germania.

She reached out and brushed the chest pieces with her fingers as memories of the battles she fought came back. All those people she killed the towns she burnt to the ground, the wars she fought for lords with too much gold on their hands.

It took some time for her to remember how to put on the armour, but she eventually was able to put it on.

Her chest was protected by an iron cuirass which covered a blue undercoat which also covered chain mail which covered most of her upper body. Covering the top of the armour was fur from a snow wolf that she had killed while living in Germania. It covered her shoulders which were made of iron, her elbows were covered in leather which led to her iron gauntlets. At her waist was a belt which was missing a holster for her hatchet, she ignored it, she could buy one while she was in Tristian.

Her legs weren't as well defended as her chest with her only wearing black pants with brown boots. Two long pieces of blue cloth formed a half skirt which covered the back of her legs. In her arms was her helmet, the opening formed a T in the front. She ran a gloved hand over the spine that ran along the back of the helmet.

She grimaced at her reflection, it was supposed to stay locked away. Raising her hatchet, she levitated her hair, quickly braiding it, before putting on the helmet.

After grabbing her coin pouch, she left her room, quickly making her way down the hall, only for her to stop at the staircase when she felt the familiar presence of her friend.

"Shouldn't go."

Turning she faced the small blue haired girl. "Look I know you care, but I can't stay here."

the girl took a step forward. "Coming with you."

"Do you even know where I'm going?"

"Do you."

Kirche let out a small chuckle. "I'm hoping to find a merc guild in the capital where I can work for a while before moving on." She paused as she thought over the plan. "And besides, you shouldn't throw away your education just to help me."

"schools closed."

She let out a sigh. She knew it was pointless "Fine, pack fast and meet me at the front gate, we have a long walk ahead of us."

The two girls went their separate ways. Kirche could only shake her head, this was way too similar to when she first entered a merc guild.

xXXXx

 ** _INTERLUDE 1: RED MEETS BLUE_**

Kirche sat in an empty bathhouse trying to brush the filth out of her hair. She had just gotten accepted into the academy, and was excited, no longer having to survive off the spoils of war, no longer just some pawn for some high lord with enough gold to hire an army. The headmaster had been nice to giving her a modified female uniform that covered up most of her body.

"Just stay in place!" But the issue she was facing right now was getting her hair to cover the rune engraving on her head. Her towelled body was covered in various marking and runes that constantly itched, reminding her of her families branding.

The sound of the door behind her caused the fire mage to jump, quickly turning she found a tiny blue-haired girl standing in similar attire at the door her blue eyes pierced any mental defences the fire mage, this wasn't helped by the fact that she held a giant staff. Kirche felt her breathing begin to accelerate as her mind went into overdrive, 'was she sent by her family? She didn't look like a merc. Could she be an assassin was her family fed up with trying to bring her back alive?'. "I-I-I thought everyone would be in bed I'm sorry." The fire mage sputtered out, quickly collecting her brush before turning to leave.

As she walked passed the girl, a sudden hand reached out and grabbed her arm. Kirche debated whether she should simply punch the girl and run, she had no doubt that she could beat her in strength but that staff was intimidating. How far could she get before she could cast a spell, if she was an assassin she would have to be a good mage, no one would hire a kid unless they knew they were good.

The blue haired girl stared at the runes on her arm before looking up at her face. Her world slowed as the girl began to chant an incantation. Running on instincts Kirche let loose a punch catching the girl off guard.

The girl fell back her grip became loose enough for Kirche to pry her off, allowing her to get away. She raced to the door, she needed to get her wand and escape, why did she think this was going to be different. She reached out as the door came closer only for her to slip on newly formed ice. She landed a few seconds later with a thud as she slid into the door.

She attempted to get up only to find a wave of fatigue roll over her. Gazing at where the blue haired girl was last seen she found her laying on her stomach, her staff was raised, a soft blue glow was emanating from the tip.

Kirche attempted once more to rise from the ground her muscles felt heavy screaming for rest. Her stomach churned. She suddenly slipped causing her body to fall to the ground once more. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, gazing up she saw the blue haired girl kneeling at her side. She squirmed trying to do anything to get away.

"Stop, helping." The blue haired girl stated before muttering an incantation. Kirche looked on in surprise as her arm began to glow, the light travelled up her arm, slowly consuming her body. A moment later the light faded, allowing her to see what had changed. She let out a loud gasp as she found the runes covering her arm were gone. She quickly examined the rest of her body finding the same thing all over. Feeling a new sense of energy, she quickly picked herself up and ran over to the mirror where she found the rune on her head to be missing.

Free she was finally free, if her family were to learn that she had lost her powers they would surely leave her alone. But how did she know? She turned back to the blue-haired girl who had begun to wash. "How did you do that?" She asked.

The girl simply turned towards her. "Dot level illusion magic." So, it wasn't permanent. "High ranking nobles use it to cover blemishes. Useful for scars."

"H-how long will it last?"

"Day."

She couldn't march over to see her every day for this, she did say it was a dot level wind magic. "Do you think you can teach it to me?"

The girl simply nodded.

"Well, I'm Kirche." She said with a smile

"Tabitha."

Kirche let out a sigh. "We'll work on conversation, but why don't you teach me the incantation?"

From that day onward the two were inseparable.

xXXXx

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _So double feature today, getting close to the end of the rewrite there's not much for me to actually add when it comes to these chapters._**

 ** _Anyways, again have a good day/night, and I hope you enjoyed that small snip/interlude/whatever its called. Let me know what you think in the reviews._**


	11. Chapter 11: The Princess's agent

It had been dark by the time Louise had arrived in Tristian. She was silently thankful for that as the only people on the street were the local guards as they went around lighting the lanterns. Although her surroundings were peaceful the same couldn't be said for her mind. It kept wandering back to the image of the man in her mind Just who was he?

She didn't know what to make of him, he tried to get her to accept who she was, whether that is a good or bad thing she couldn't quite tell. Perhaps he was the manifestation of the suit, Derf was sentient so it wasn't all that farfetched to believe a suit could be sentient.

Glancing around she made sure that no one was around before turning to the sword on her hip.

"Derf?"

"Hmm, what is it, partner?"

"Have. Have you ever heard of a spirit inhabiting a suit of armour?"

"Are you implying that your suit is elven?"

Louise shushed the blade as she quickly looked around making sure that no one had heard her sword. "Yes." She whispered.

"Yes I have, but when did you meet this spirit?" The sword said in a similarly hushed tone

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, "It was when I took that potion, I-I found myself in the same bleak void dream as my mind ran through my previous battles. He simply stood there scolding me for even thinking what I did was wrong."

"Was he an elf?"

She thought it over, the man's face was obscured by light but she didn't see any pointed ears in his silhouette. "No, he was human."

"Well, I've never heard of human spirit magic... What other things did you notice about this man?"

"He spoke as if we were familiar, he also wore my suit." She let out a chuckle. "It looked a lot more natural on him though."

The sword hummed in thought. "Perhaps your suit is sentient... if only he could speak, from what you said we would have gotten along."

She let a small chuckle escape her lips, "yeah I can see that." Silence took reign over the area, only the light hum of the oil street lights could be heard. "What happens if she doesn't want my services?" She asked

"After you saved her, I thought nobles always paid their debts?"

"Ok maybe she will, but what about the court, do you think they will let just anybody become the princess guard?"

"Didn't you say you were a Valliere. Just walk on in there and offer your services."

Taking several deep breaths, she calmed herself "You're right."

She felt a smile creep up on her face. She could think of many other life choices that could be worse than serving the princess, to think a week and a half ago she was worried about becoming a simple housewife to Wardes.

"Where do you think you're going?" A coarse voice asked her.

Brought back to reality she realized that she was now standing in front of the castle's gate, two tall men dressed in heavy armour blocked her path "I wish to see Princess Henrietta."

The two guards looked between each other obviously suspicious "You got an invitation?"

She was taken aback she hadn't thought about that but of course, this was going to happen after an attempt was made on her life.

"Well?" One of the guards questioned growing impatient.

thinking on her feet she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "No, but as a Valliere I demand entrance."

The guards stared at her for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "You, a Valliere, yeah right."

"Yeah, the Valliere's are proud, they wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that." The guard laughed as he poked her with the tip of his blade.

Louise felt her blood begin to boil. "why you."

"Get out of here before we arrest you for loitering."

 _ **TACTICAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE.**_

Her rage suddenly vanished as a mischievous smile formed on her face. "Fine, I'll be leaving." She told the guards before walking off down the street.

She followed the walls for a bit before pulling her mask down and quickly activating her tactical visor. Her vision was quickly directed to the top of a nearby building.

 _ **INFILTRATE THE CASTLE AND RENDEZVOUS WITH THE PRINCESS**_

She quickly ducked into an alleyway before jumping up, she quickly grabbed on to the roof pulling herself up. If they weren't going to let her in, she would simply have to let herself in. Looking up at the castle wall, she examined her options. The wall was too high for her to jump up but there was an arrowslit in the castle wall, most likely used for commoner archers or mages to repel invaders.

With a new plan clear in her mind she Looked over to make sure the guards weren't looking this way. suddenly she sprinted forward towards the castle wall, leaping off the building with her arms extended. She felt the amazing power of the suit as she soared through the air.

she gripped the slit with a hand as her body collided with the wall causing her to let out a small groan.

"What's that?" The same coarse voice asked.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

Looking over to the gate she found the guard staring intensively at her. She held her breath, as the man narrowed his eyes, after a long moment he simply shook his head before turning away.

Louise deactivated her cloak, allowing her energy to charge up again. "Say Derf, do you feel pain?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Not that I can remember, no, why do you ask?"

"No reason."

 **MAXIMUM POWER.**

Using her feet, she lunged upwards, quickly pulling out her sword and impaling it into the stone wall. A muffled scream came from the blade hilt. "You know partner, I do a lot for you." The sword gritted out.

"Tell you what. After this, I'll go get you some sword polish and buy a sharpening stone." She told the blade as she gazed up to the top of the castle.

"Just hurry up."

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED MAXIMUM POWER**_

Jumping up once more she grabbed onto the top of the wall, quickly she slid Derf back into his sheath as she climbed up onto the top of the wall. She quickly looked around the wall, only to find no guards manning it. she couldn't help but gaze at the sheer beauty of the castle. Memories of her days spent here flooded back to her as a smile worked its way up onto her face.

 **Low energy**

The red text brought her back from her thoughts, she quickly deactivated her cloak. She had to meet the princess. Walking to the end of the wall she looked down at the courtyard.

 _ **NANOVISION ENGAGED**_

No matter where she looked she couldn't find a single guard. The confusion began to overtake her senses, she could remember all the guards that had guarded them while she and the princess played together, but there were none.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

Activating her armour she dropped off the large wall, landing she quickly deactivated her armour and dashed into a nearby bush. What had happened, why were the guards missing? A feeling of paranoia began to fill her she had to find the princess. Looking around to make sure she hadn't missed anything she sprinted across the courtyard.

Coming to a stop in the bush closest to the castle door, she found a single blue-haired female guard. Louise found herself even more confused. She didn't look anything like the two guards manning the front gate, for one she didn't wear any bulky armour instead she wore a simple black and white maid outfit with a white cape that ran down the back, on her hip was a holstered sword while in the women's hands was a long musket.

Using her tactical visor, she zoomed in on the women, finding the rifle at the ready to fire, it's hammer cock back ready to strike the gunpowder. But from the look on the woman's face, she seemed anxious. Did the guards get replaced with servants? That would explain the lack of men guarding the castle. Quickly coming up with a plan she grabbed a nearby rock.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

She walked towards the women, casually tossing the rock away from the door causing her to turn towards the sound. As quietly as possible she attempted to open the door.

"Stop right there." A trembling voice of the guard shouted at her.

She grit her teeth this was just not her day. "Look I'm a Valliere, I just want to speak with the princess." She said as she decloaked.

"You're not getting in. You're going to drop your wan-." The women trailed off as she realized that she didn't have a wand.

"Look I don't want to hurt you I don't mean to bring harm to the princess, quite the opposite in fact."

"You, couldn't hurt me. I've dealt with mages before, it takes time for you to cast while all I have to do is pull this trigger." The women told her trembling voice betraying the mask she attempted to put up.

"I'm sorry." She spun around with unnatural speed and precision, grabbing the barrel of the musket while using her other hand to cover the breach, stopping the women from being able to fire off a shot. Yanking the women forward she headbutted the women causing her to let go of the musket. Placing it on her back she used her free hand to slam the women into the nearby wall. "I'm really sorry but I need to speak with her."

Glancing around in order to make sure she hadn't been spotted she dragged the guard back into the bushes. throwing the women to the ground she used her knee as she kept the incapacitated women at bay as she began to pat the women down for any weapons. She suddenly had a moment of clarity, where had she learned to do this. No, she had to see the princess and so long as the women underneath her had weapons she wouldn't be able to continue.

She began to take count at what she had found. Two pistols which now rested on her thighs, and several knives as she continued to pat the women down, she felt something odd on the side of her torso.

She gripped the back of the women's clothes as she bit her lip, what was she doing, this was hardly noble like. No, she has to make sure that she isn't a threat. Using her enhanced strength, she ripped the women's clothes revealing a shoulder holster and a wand.

"That's mine, stop it." The women slurred as Louise stripped her of the cape that held the holster.

She had never liked how volatile her magic was, the explosions that she would cast, although non-lethal still could hurt people. But with the princess in trouble perhaps this would be the first time that she used them on purpose. Turning back to the women "Don't hate me." She told her in a hushed tone.

She let out a weak chuckle before vomiting. "Commander Agnes is protecting her, you won't get her." Before Louise could question her, she saw the women pull out an odd-looking tube in her hand. She quickly reached out in order to stop her but it was too late, the sound of gunfire came from the tube alerting, she could hear far off doors being slammed open, reinforcements surly on their way. Quickly she put on the holster before making her way to the door

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Hiding just right of the door she waited. After a few moments later the door swung open, several female guards left the building, each one brandishing a musket like the one on her back. Taking this opportunity, she quickly moved into the large foyer of the castle. In front of her was another squad of women in maid uniforms. Dashing to the right she jumped up towards a balcony that wrapped around the foyer.

The loud tolling of a bell rang through the halls of the castle. They knew she was here. Deactivating her cloak, she dashed through the winding hallways of the castle as the memories of the layout came back to her, she didn't know where the princess was going to be but she had a good idea where to look.

The world around her blurred as she sprinted through the halls, but as the princess room came into view she slowed down, something was off. She hadn't seen a single guard since she first entered the castle.

"Something wrong partner?" Derf asked.

"Where are they?"

"What do you mean?"

"The guards, I was just caught they should be positioning more people to guard the princess."

"You're right, ok take it slow and be careful."

Heeding the blade's advice, she inched forward, bringing a pistol up, ready for anything to happen. Eventually, she came face to face with the princess's room. Pressing the side of her head she attempted to listen in, but she heard nothing, she then attempted to open the door, to see if she could peek inside only to find the door locked. Stepping back, she brought a leg up.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

She kicked the door with all her strength causing it to cave in. As the door flew away, the sight of the destroyed room filled her vision. The furniture was mostly destroyed as bodies of the guards laid motionless around the room. She could also see the subtle blue glow of a silence spell. But in front of her stood the man who had done this. Anger began to fill her as she watched him slide a body off of his blade

The man wore a large white jacket that covered most of his torso, with a matching pair of pants. He wore a plain white mask that covered his face, but it didn't hide his long grey hair that could be seen behind his head. In one hand he held a rapier that crackled with yellow energy, while in his other hands was the unconscious form of the princess. "To think that you would show up again. Perhaps this is God's way of saying to take revenge for your comrade, but I have no intere-."

She tuned out the man focusing solely on the princess. She felt her blood boil. This man dares lay his hands on the princess. How dare he, she was going to make him pay. She got ready to charge the man, to run him down and take revenge for what he had done.

 _ **ENERGY BUILD UP DETECTED**_

But before she could do anything the man pointed his sword at her as yellow energy began to build up in the blade. Quickly ducking to the left of the open door she watched as lightning tore through where she just was.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

She quickly dashed into the room as she pulled out both Derf to block any magic spells that would come her way and a pistol that she stole from that women. a pistol she took a shot at the man who simply blocked it with a wind shield. She threw the now empty pistol at the man who swatted it away with his blade.

She felt her anger continue to grow. Letting out a scream she swung the blade at the man. The man ducked under before blasting her with a jet of wind. But instead of being flung away, she was simply pushed backwards, her armour weighing her down. The man flicked his wand causing all the glass in the room shattered as the double doors that were behind the man flew opened she brought up her arms as another blast of air hit her. "I appreciate the enthusiasm but I must get going, my employers are waiting for me."

His wand crackled with yellow energy once again, but before she could react lighting collided with her. Her armour was instantly deactivated as the lighting seemed to sap all of her energy. Pain took over her confused mind as she felt the lightning course throughout her body. She fell to her knees. Her legs no longer having the strength to hold her up.

This seemed to drag on forever as the pain continued until in a single moment, the lightning stopped. Glancing up she saw the man turn and walk away as the pain began to die down. Reaching for her back she pulled out her new musket. Quickly she flung the hammer back and took aim at the man.

She watched as the man quickly turned around, most likely in sheer surprise that she was still going. She smiled behind the mask as she pulled the trigger. Time seemed to slow down as the hammer slowly made its way to the breach. The man attempted to raise his wand in order to block the bullet but it didn't matter, no one could cast a spell that fast. But as the hammer hit the breach it became clear. Luck was not on her side as the musket misfired.

The man instantly relaxed. "Guess it is my lucky day." The man walked backwards until he reached the balcony. "Well it's been fun but I need to leave." The man flicked his wand before rising off the ground.

She grit her teeth as she picked herself off the ground. She wasn't going to lose, no that was not an option right now. A cry of a griffin filled the room. She dashed forward as fast as she could, trying to catch up with the man. As she made it to the balcony she saw the dark silhouette of a griffin fly over her. Picking up more speed she used the railing of the balcony as a step to jump as high as she could into the air.

With her arms extended she grabbed hold of the griffin's tail causing it to cry out in pain.

She began to climb the beast's tail as fast as she could but looking up she found the man staring at her the princess nowhere to be seen. "You just don't know when to give up do you?" The man raised his wand as more yellow energy began to form on the tip. Using the tail, she threw herself over to one of the beast's hind legs grabbing on to its foot as the sound of lightning cracked through the air.

Instinctively she glanced downwards much to her dismay, as the ground below her was already far away. Swallowing her fear, she quickly climbed up the beast's leg only to find the man had already taken aim once more. Using a free hand, she pulled out Derf just in time for him to take the brunt of the lightning spell.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Jumping upwards she caught the man by surprise, giving him a quick punch to his face he recoiled almost falling off of his griffin. Not wanting to give him any quarter she pulled Derf out once more and swung at the man who fell back, off of his griffin.

But the man quickly flew to the front of his griffin repositioning himself. It was then that she realized that the princess hung in the griffin's mouth. Letting out a cry of anger she dashed forward Derf at the ready.

The man sent out a sudden gust of air but it was no use as she simply cut through it before swinging the two-handed blade at the man. he attempted to parry it, but her force was too much, causing the blade to go flying off of the griffin. But before she could celebrate the man suddenly spun around kicking her in the head causing her to fall off the side of the beast.

Quickly she grabbed on to the various feathers stopping her fall. She looked back up to find the man standing over her. he reached into his jacket pulling out another wand.

She let out a sigh. "Derf you're coming up with the plans from now on."

Before the blade could answer she stabbed the blade into the beast causing it to let out a cry of pain. Using this to her advantage she pulled out a pistol. She hoped to god that she could hit her target. Taking aim, she fired the gun at the beast's mouth. Not a moment later the bottom part of its beak was shattered as the musket ball tore through it.

"Are you insane!?" The man shouted as the princess fell towards the earth. She didn't really know how to answer it. Pulling Derf free from his hold. She jumped towards the wing of the griffin.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

The sound of the beast's bones breaking under her attack was barely audible as the air began to fly faster around her. As she fell towards the earth she could see beast begin to enter a free fall.

She turned towards the earth finding the princess was now wide awake and was obviously scared as she seemed to look all over for her.

Putting Derf back into his sheath she angled her body like an arrow as she began to speed towards her friend. She had to reach her in time, as the ground was getting way to close for her taste.

She quickly caught up with the princess who was screaming as loud as she could. Grabbing her she pulled her close before pulling out the wand from her shoulder holster she quickly passed it to Henrietta.

The princess quickly casted levitate causing both of them to slow down. The two girls let out a sigh of relief as Louise brought her mask up.

Henrietta, on the other hand, wasn't in such a calm state, she was trembling as if she had just gotten soaked in the middle of a winter storm. "W-w-w-what happen? where were we? Why were we falling?" The nearly broken voice of the princess

"Breath Henrietta. It's fine, you're safe now." She pulled the princess into a hug. "You're fine." She could feel the trembling arms of the princess wrap around her clinging to her for stability. They stayed like this for what seemed like hours before parting. Tears could be seen running down the princess's face that she quickly wiped away.

"What happened?" She asked her voice now steady.

Louise bit her lip. "You were kidnapped yet again, I snuck into the castle to meet with you, but when I got to your door I found most of your guard's dead and you were unconscious in the grip of a man."

Tears began to flow once more down the cheeks of Henrietta. "Founder no. Not again." She collapsed to her knees.

Crouching down Louise placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Princess please, these men and women chose to serve you, this is what they died so that way you could be safe."

"It's not what I wanted!" She suddenly shouted. "They were only servants, but mother fired all of my guards to be replaced with some of your families reserves. So, in the meantime, she just gave the servant's firearms and hired a mercenary to train them." She shook her head. "They didn't sign up to die for me, they weren't guards that chose that line of work."

Louise could feel anger begin to build up once more. What was the queen thinking! Was she insane!

"Halt!" A voice shouted from behind her. Turning she found a woman with dirty blonde hair on horseback. Her blue tunic and white cape were illuminated by the twin moons. In her hands was a musket aimed directly at her. "Step away from the Princess and keep your hands where I can see them."

"Are you the merc they hired!" She shouted.

"By order of the crown, you are under arrest on seven counts of murder and one count of assault." The blonde said ignoring what Louise had said.

"You think I did that!"

"Stand down Agnes. She saved me."

She ignored the princess. "I know you did that, you perfectly match the description of the person who assaulted one of the castle's guards, not to mention that I saw you up on that griffin."

She was about to retort once again when she felt the princess pull her back. "Louise, run back to Tristian find a place to stay, we need to find the people that are attacking our Kingdom and end them." The princess told her in an unnaturally serious tone. "I'll try to keep the guards off your back, but you should lay low. I'll find a way to contact you."

"Ok princess." Turning away from the blonde she ran as fast as possible. Much to the surprise of everyone there. cracks of musket fire could be heard from behind her but it was no use she was already gone.

As she ran through the fields her mind was set on the goal. Whoever was orchestrating this whole charade would pay.

xXXXx

Louise found herself back on the streets of Tristian contemplating her next move. She would have to find a job tomorrow as she only brought enough money for a single day, but right now she had to focus on finding a place to sleep. An idea suddenly popped into her head before she turned and walked down an empty illuminated street.

"I have to thank you, partner." The blade on her hip suddenly spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"It's been a long time since I last tasted the metallic sweet taste of griffin blood."

"Metallic sweet?"

"Yeah the blood tastes metallic but the magic running through it gives it a subtle sweet taste."

Leave it to her blade to be a connoisseur of blood. "Derf new rule. No talking about what blood tastes like in public especially where we're heading."

"You have no control over me until I get that cleaning you promised, my blade still aches."

She stopped as she gazed towards the immaculate white building in front of her. The shining pearl in a place where both local and foreign nobles stay if they have business to be done in Tristian. "Ok just be quiet for the next day. The blacksmith is closed."

The blade let out a humph as Louise entered the two large white double doors that. As soon as she stepped through the doors she could feel the luxury in the air. The entrance hall was a bit small but that was due to the fact that meals were served in a separate room. A red carpet ran through the center of the room leading to the front desk.

The sound of flowing water came from an indoor fountain that supposedly ran on rare water stones ignoring that she walked forward towards the front desk whose top was made out of marble. A man in a tux stood behind it as he offhandedly read a book.

"You call this laying low." The sword quipped

She walked towards the front desk as the man slowly became aware of her presence. He let out a sigh as he shut his book. "We don't sever mercs here if you're looking for a place to rest your head the charming fairies in is down the street and to the left."

What was he implying "I'm not a mercenary!"

The man scanned her body once more. "Could have fooled me."

She wanted to retort but swallowed her pride. "Look I'm a Valliere and I'm looking for a place to stay for the night."

"Do you have any proof?"

Her mouth instantly ran dry. "Well, no."

"The get out."

"What is the cheapest room you have." She said trying to plead with the man.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Four-hundred new gold a night. If you want it you need to pay in full."

She let out a sigh of relief, she had saved up her allowances just for such a day. She reached down to her coin pouch that rested on her hip, only to find it missing.

Looking down in a frenzy she tried to find her coin pouch, but no matter where she looked she couldn't find it. Letting out a small chuckle she turned back to the man. "Can you give me a moment please."

She swiftly spun around. "Derf where's my coin pouch." She asked in a hushed tone.

"Since when is it my job to keep track of your things?"

"You're on my hip all the time, surely you could have noticed when it fell off."

"You're right I did."

"So?"

"So?"

"Where did it fall off." She was getting annoyed, why was he so grouchy all of a sudden.

"It fell off when that man kicked you off that griffin."

She let out a groan as she turned back to the man. "You wouldn't happen to believe in charity would you."

"Out!"

So, she found herself back on the streets with no money. What was she going to do?

She could always try the charming fairies inn, she was sure that Scarron would help her. But did she want to deal with him? A small beep sound played in her ears as her mask was automatically brought down, indicating that it was already eleven.

Letting out another groan she walked off towards the inn.

It didn't take long for her to find the inn following the map that her suit had made for her. As she approached she could hear the sound of muffled cheers.

Entering the establishment, she found the source of it. All around her at various table people were drinking but over in the far corner, there was a large crowd of people. Ignoring it she simply walked towards the counter where Jessica stood as she watched the crowd.

The raven-haired girl seemed to notice her presence, as she turned towards her with a smile plastered on her face. "Hey there Louise."

She simply sighed in response. "Hey there Jessica."

Her smile instantly vanished as she quickly reached down and pulled out a glass and a wine bottle. "What happened?" She said as she poured brown liquid into the glass.

"I lost my coin pouch and I need a place to sleep for the night."

A solemn expression formed on the girl's face. "I'm sorry to hear that, I wish I could do something but all of our rooms are being rented out." She pushed the glass forward. "Here it's on the house." Louise took the glass and inspected the contents before drinking it all in one swig.

Slamming the glass back down she began to think up another plan. She could always sleep out on the street but that would leave her vulnerable to being robbed. She could handle a simple street punk, but if she was asleep.

A loud groan filled the inn before a crash took its place. Cheers erupted from the crowd. Turning towards the sound she found two men carrying a large man away. "Who's next!" The familiar voice of Kirche shouted.

As if on command the redhead popped up from the center of the crowd. She looked around before coming to stare at her. "You." She pointed at her.

"Me?" Louise pointed at herself confused. Two obviously drunk men walked up to her and picked her up. Dragging her towards the crowd ignoring her protests.

She suddenly found herself sat at a table sitting across from Kirche who wore a red low-cut dress. In front of her was a small mountain of coin easily dwarfing what she had in her coin pouch when she had lost it. "I had heard that you needed a place to sleep. Pity since I had just rented the last room." She said with a smug grin.

Louise clenched her hands in anger. "What are you getting at?"

She continued to smile at her. "I'm proposing a game. if you can handle your liquor better than me not only will you win this gold, but I would happily give you my room."

She thought about it for a moment when she drank wine yesterday she didn't feel the usual effects of it. Perhaps it stops it, if that's the case not only would this be an easy win for her, but she would also win back what she had lost as well as winning a place to sleep for the night. "But what happens if you win?"

"Then I get your sword."

"Now wait just a minute I'm no-"

"Deal." Louise said cutting off the blade.

A few moments later Scarron came by with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Kirche filled the two glasses with the purple vintage. Which they both drank without incident.

Louise then poured which they both drank with little issue.

it went back and forth until the entire bottle was empty.

"Well, that was simply the start. Now for something a little different." Reaching down she pulled out a bottle of Gallian ale rated at around eighty proof.

Louise began to feel anxious, leave it to Kirche to ramp up a contest to this. She felt her mouth run dry as Kirche poured out the brown liquid. She had never had something so strong.

"You're not scared are you." The girl across from her said with a smile.

"Of course not!" She shouted picking up the glass and quickly drinking its contents, she was surprised to find that she couldn't taste it for some reason. Perhaps this was the suit's doing. She found the girl staring at her in surprise. "Well, it would seem that it is your turn."

She simply shook her head. "So, it seems." She took the glass and quickly downed it.

As time passed the bottle got emptier and emptier as the crowd began to thin out. The fun in watching a drinking match was to see a person fall over drunk, but when both parties show no signs of it affecting them at all, that's when it loses out on its magic.

"Ok, I have one mo-"

"We're closing up. If you don't have a room I'm afraid that you need to leave." The oddly feminine voice of Scarron called out, eliciting a sigh of relief from the pink-haired girl.

A sigh came from across the table, as all sense of annoyance seemed to vanish from the redhead. "Looks like it's a tie." She reached out and split the mountain of coin in two halves pushing towards her before getting up and climbing the stairs towards the room. "Come on Louise."

She could only stare at the redhead. "What do you mean."

The redhead scoffed. "Look I'm not cruel, you had a problem and I want to help. Now hurry up."

She turned back to the coin on the table. Quickly she looked around for anything that could hold it when a pouch landed on the table. Looking up she found Jessica smiling at her. But before she could take her winnings Jessica reached down and scooped up most of the coin into her own pouch. She turned and glared at the women who only shrugged. "Drinks aren't cheap and she didn't pay."

She let out yet another sigh. Scooping up what was left she quickly followed Kirche up the stairs, and into her room.

"I told you it would work! Now we can get you a good set of armour." She shouted as she tossed a bag full of coins onto one of the beds. Looking into the room she found Tabitha who was reading a book while laying down on the bed who simply hummed at Kirche.

As Louise entered she had to wonder what they were doing here. The room looked unkept. Dust seemed to cover most of the furniture save for the two beds and a table by the window that looked to have been recently cleaned in the corner she found armour that looked to belong to some warlord.

A red blur suddenly flew by her. "Oh, Flame I missed you so." Turning she found kirche baby carrying her oversized fire lizard who licked her face as if it was a dog.

"Wait so what are you to doing here?"

"We're planning on joining the mercenary guild in the morning," Kirche told her as she dropped her lizard to the floor who quickly scurried to the middle of the room and curled up into a ball.

"Why?"

"Felt like it?"

"That's it?" Pretty much

"And the armour?" Louise asked pointing to the corner

"Oh, I bought that to complete the look."

"That does-"

"Man, I think all of that ale is starting to get to me. I think we should get to sleep." Kirche said as she climbed into one of the two beds after taking off her boots. She felt even more confused didn't she care about the dress, and why was she being so defensive about the armour. "Oh, sorry to say this but you're going to have to sleep on the floor."

"It's fine, it's not the first time."

"Here." Kirche said as she tossed a pillow which Louise caught.

"Thanks."

Undoing her belt. She rested Derf her bow and quiver up against the wall as she laid down on the floor. The lights suddenly went out as she closed her eyes.

A single thought filled her head. Where was she going to work?

xXXXx


	12. Chapter 12: The Merc Company Part 1

xXXXx

As the sun rose into the sky, the small room that Louise had spent the night brightened. She let out a small groan of irritation as the light woke her up. Trying to ignore the outside world she covered her face with the pillow she had been sleeping on.

But as the people in the outside world began to go about their day, filling the street with noise as they started working. She soon found that ignoring the world was impossible.

Letting out a yawn she slowly rose from her sleeping position stretching to work the kinks out of her arms. She didn't know if it was the fault of the suit, but she felt refreshed ready to tackle the day. Of job hunting.

Letting out a sigh she stood up, only to find that the room was empty. Looking around she found a small note left on the table beside her "bed." She walked over to the table and quickly picked up the note

 _Just wanted to let you know that me and Tabitha are gone to the mercenary guild and we'll be there probably all day. we'll be back sometime tonight if you need a place to stay. Before you say anything, I had wanted to wake you up but you looked too cute sleeping peacefully in that large suit of armour._

She let out a groan of annoyance. Only Kirche could make a compliment sound patronizing.

 _P.S you should probably work on your snoring._

She began to shake as she read the note. "I don't snore!" She shouted in anger. As she threw the note to the ground.

"Wh- what is going on?" Derf groaned as the sword awoke from its slumber. "Oh, it's just you partner. Well, false alarm."

She ran over to the blade. "Derf do I snore?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"The important kind."

"Like a saw on wood, can I get back to sleep now?"

She glared at the sword before letting out a sigh. "Fine, I guess I can put that polishing on hold."

"Well, I guess I've slept long enough. Now, how about we go get some food before heading back to mister Lancaster."

"Lawrence?"

"Yeah, whatever."

She quickly fastened the blade and quiver to her hip, while setting the bow on her back. Walking over to the window she opened it before sticking her head out. It was a nice day like so many before it. Below her people worked to get their stands ready for the coming day of bartering.

It was odd. The castle was in such a panicked state the queen had fired the guards and the princess was kidnapped again last night but everyone seemed at peace. It was like no one knew what had happened or they simply didn't care. She felt envious of them, only having to worry about doing their job to put food on the table, not needing to care for the politics of the lands.

A sudden knock at the door broke her from her thought. "Louise breakfast is ready." The voice of Jessica said through the door.

"I'll be there in a moment." Turning back to the window she noticed dark clouds on the horizon. Well, maybe it wouldn't be such a nice day.

Leaving the room, she walked down the hall, and quickly descended the staircase. Walking over to the tavern counter she found a steaming bowl of what appeared to be vegetable soup as well as several slices of bread.

Sitting down she began to eat. As her mind went over the plan for today. She had to go visit the old blacksmith for a sharpening stone and polish. Then she had to find a job and then she would have to find a way to talk with the princess. Who knew serving the crown would be so complicated.

"So, what happened last night?" Jessica said as she slowly walked over to where she sat from behind the counter wearing the same low-cut outfit that she wore last night.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, no one simply offers you a spot in their room without asking for something in return." She said with a sly smile. "So, come on what happens."

She glared at the raven-haired girl. She knew full well what she was implying. She began to visibly shake as her face grew hot "I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't like girls that way." She stuttered.

The girl scowled. "You know you're no fun."

She simply replied with a hum. As she continued to eat her breakfast.

"So, what's your plan?"

"Why so inquisitive?"

"This job is super dull during the day. I have to find some way to pass the time."

She let out another sigh. "Well, first things first I have to get a sharpening stone and polish kit for him." She said as she gestured to the hip.

"Do you even know how to sharpen a sword?"

"I'm sure it can't be that hard." As if on cue the sheath began to tremble.

"Maybe you should get a blacksmith to sharpen and polish me." Derf nervously chuckled.

She glared down at her blade. "We have barely two-hundred gold after we ended up paying for Kirche's bar tab!"

"With her money."

"Sword polish and a sharpening stone are going to easily cost us a hundred seeing as you are covered from tip to grip in a thick blanket of rust."

"All the more reason to get a professional for the job."

"On top of that I still don't have a source of income and I doubt anyone would want to get into a drinking contest with me after seeing me last night."

"Well maybe if someone tied their coin pouch tighter we wouldn't be in this situation!" The sword shouted back.

She was about to shout something back when laughing caught her attention. Turning she found Jessica doubled over in laughter. "I'm sorry, it's just seeing a person bickering over their financial situation is just way too outlandish, even for a person who lives with my father. It's like watching an old married couple."

"What!" The two shouted in unison.

"Even more so now."

She slammed her hands onto the counter as she stood up. "That's it. I'm leaving!" With that, she and Derf left the inn for the old backwards blacksmith.

xXXXx

It didn't take long for Louise to make find the blacksmith. This was mostly due to the fact that there was a brand-new sign that pointed towards the shop.

Reaching the shop, she threw open the door, she could smell the scent of oil but that wasn't what she had been focusing on. The shop was completely different, the dust that once blanketed everything was gone, the weapons that hung on racks around the store looked as if someone had recently cleaned them.

"Ah, welcome back Derf." The voice of Lawrence called out to them from behind the counter.

The blade only grumbled in response.

The man chuckled. "Well, I'm glad to see that you haven't changed. Now how can I help you?" He said as he turned towards her.

"Oh, I'm looking for a sharpening stone and some sandpaper."

The man hummed as he began to stroke his beard. "I may have what you need." The man crouched down behind the counter.

"If you don't mind me asking how did you clean all of this? I mean I was last here less than a week ago."

The man chuckled. "Well the swords were me, I simply left most of them in a cleaning solution overnight before wiping them off. The dust, on the other hand, is thanks to a small blue haired girl."

She felt her body tense up. "What did you say?"

"Two girls came by earlier today, one wore a large suit of armour while the other small one only had a school uniform. They had asked for some leather armour as they were going to join up with the local merc guild. Ah, here it is." The man rose, now holding a large bottle of oil, several sheets of the rough paper and several square stones of varying colour.

"I didn't ask for oil?"

"it's on the house, trust me Derf likes his oil bath."

The sword hummed in agreement.

Setting the items on the table he continued. "I was originally apprehensive about arming a child but then they told me about how their Albionesse nationals that were separated from their family when the Quarantine went up and after running out of money they turned to mercenary work."

"What a terrible thing to have happened to them." Louise just smiled at the man, but inside she was screaming.

"Yes, a terrible situation to be in for sure. I didn't have any leather armour, with peasants having to take up tilling their land, cows and oxen are more useful as beasts of burden rather than armour."

"So, what did she get?"

"A simple grey gambeson coat with metal jack chains after I recommended it, it's simply better. After I gave it to her she waved that staff of hers and swept up all the dust."

"And that fit her?"

"No, it was extremely large for her, although I gave her the smallest I had. A lot of teenage nobles are small such as yourself." A scowl formed on her face. "Uh, no offence."

She simply shook her head. "Continue."

"Well fallen nobles sometimes have to turn to, dangerous activities to support themselves, and Gambeson is cheap protection, so it's always good to keep an extra small on hand."

"I guess that explains it. How much for all of this." She asked trying to change the subject.

The man hummed as he looked over the items on the table. "one. Thirty."

She pulled out her pouch quickly setting down the correct amount of coin. The man quickly placed all of her items into a cloth bag and handed it off to her.

"Thanks again." The man said with a smile causing her irritation to boil hotter. How could Kirche lie to a man like this? She turned and walked over to the door as she tried to get her anger in check.

Before she could reach the door, she felt herself freeze in place. Turning back to the man. "Where is the mercenary guild?"

"Oh, when you get out of the alley just turn left a few doors down will be the guild, you should be able to recognize it

She quickly turned and left the store, as soon as she was away from the store, a scowl grew on her face. She needed to find those two.

As she walked she heard a trickle of rain hit the top of her helmet, gazing up towards the sky she could see the sky had darkened, clouds hung overhead. She closed her eyes as the familiar feeling of rain upon her skin overtook her senses. She could feel it as it ran down her face, every step of the way she could feel it until it reached her suit when the feeling would end.

She stood in the alley for what felt like hours simply soaking up the rain, it felt good, really good. Perhaps this was due to the fact that she had been wearing the suit for the past four days that her sense of touch had gotten so sensitive.

Perhaps she should take it off tonight. Yes, that's what she was going to do, she needed to get out of this suit, it would only be for a bit.

She let out a small groan as she remembered that she hadn't packed any clothes she would have to buy some later.

It was odd when she thought about it, to not have touched anything for in such a long time.

"You ok their partner?" Her sword asked breaking her from the trance she was in.

"Huh." She said as she opened her eyes suddenly realizing where she was. "Oh, yeah I'm fine Derf, just. Enjoying the weather."

"Ok." He said in an unsure voice. "So, what's the plan."

"Huh?"

"What are you planning to do now?"

"Oh right. Well, first things first I have to find Kirche and give her a stern talking to, how dare she take advantage of that man."

"Who?"

"Redhead."

"Ah, How do you plan to find her?"

"Well, she said she was going to join up with the mercenary guild so we should probably check there."

"Well get to it. Faster you find and scold her the faster I can get back to sleep."

She scowled at the blade, was he always this self-centred. She took a deep breath. He was right, she needed to get going.

Leaving the alley-way she followed the man's directions. Walking down the street, she watched as people ran to shelter as the rain began to pick up. She ignored them and continued on her way, another perk of her suit was that it didn't absorb water.

She suddenly felt a shred of sympathy for Tabitha who had probably walked around in the gambeson, all that linen would certainly be heavy in the rain.

She eventually reached a building that looked like the guild, there was a rusted sign out front that consisted of two intersecting swords. Taking her chances, she walked towards the door she noticed a small sign in the window that confirmed her suspicions.

 _Big paying contracts, no cost in signing up._

She opened the door, finding the place almost completely deserted. All the tables and stalls were unoccupied even the counter at the other end of the room was only occupied by two men who judging by the fact that they lacked wand holsters, staffs or visible sword wand they were commoner, where were they? She walked forward down the aisle, to her left she noticed a large board covered in papers each one detailed a job that that person had wanted to be done.

She turned and gazed around the floor, they weren't here, she let out a groan as she walked over to the counter, leaning on it she waited for whoever was running this place to show up. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small bell. Reaching out she rang the bell hoping to catch some person's attention.

She let out a sigh as she waited at the counter. Her eyes began to wander soon coming to rest on a piece of paper that was turned over by the wall. Reaching over she flipped it allowing her to see that it was a bounty. For three hundred new gold. It was a simple job; a group of orcs had been terrorizing a local town and the Lord wanted them gone.

She felt her mouth dry as she stared at the amount. "Are you here to apply?" Startled she quickly looked towards the source of the voice, finding a young brown-haired woman standing behind the once vacant counter. She wore a low-cut blue dress that matched her eyes. Yet there was something off about her, she knew it was that overly happy smile that was plastered on her face. This place was empty, the bounty board was overflowing, so what was she happy about?

She felt unsettled by the woman's smile. "Uh, no I'm looking for someone."

"Oh, you're like a detective." Her smile grew larger as she pulled out another paper. "Well that's perfect a town half a day's travel from here has been having its people go missing for the past week." she set the paper down allowing her to read it. "The Lord had offered two hundred new gold at first, but in a sheer act of desperation the poor broken families pooled their money upping the bounty to five hundred gold."

She audibly gulped as sweat began to form on her brow. That was a lot of money, money she could use to stay in Tristian while she waited for the princess to contact her, and those people, mother had taught her that helping the commoners was their duty as nobles. She mentally shook her head, no she was looking for Kirche and Tabitha, plus she was a Valliere, she wouldn't snoop down to mercenary work. "No,"

"Yeah, you didn't really take me as a sleuthing type." The women reached over and grabbed the orc paper. "You seem like a capable fighter, how about this, orcs have been terrorizing a logging village up in the mountains, the men of the town had tried to stop them but commoners are no match for the wrath of orcs. The lord is willing to pay you three hundred."

She gazed at the contract, it looked like good and easy money, from what details she could make out it was a small group of orcs, and the people did need her help. She mentally slapped herself, stop getting sidetracked. "No-"

"Yes, you're right, I'm sorry to have doubted your skill." The women hopped over the counter and strode on over to the contract board. She looked through the various papers before tearing one off and turning back to her, the smile on her face was gone replaced with a panicked look of desperation. "Ogres have been running around a cave system nearby local Lords fear they might attack the villages and they need your help. One the Lord has put up his three handsome sons, if you complete the job you get to have your pick at any of them for marriage."

"What!"

"Or perhaps you are interested in another Lord's daughters?" The women said with the same unnerving smile.

She felt her heart pick up the pace as her face "W-w-what!"

"Yes, perhaps I'm being too forward." She brought up a hand to her chin in thought.

"No, this has nothing-"

"You're right, I forgot to tell you about the perks of signing up."

At this point, her irritation outweighed any desire for gold. "Look if you're not willing to answer my question then I'm just going to leave." She said with a scowl before turning away.

As she began to walk away she felt someone grab her hand. Turning back, she found the women holding onto her arm with all her might as tears ran down the woman's face. "Please don't leave we need all the mages we can. If you sign up we won't take anything off your first mission, we'll even give you fifty new gold just for signing up, you even get access to our barracks so you always have a place to sleep." The women said in a broken voice

"she seems desperate." her sword quipped

The women wiped her tears. "It's true, ever since the quarantine went up we've been bleeding members. You ask any noble if they would rather risk their lives fighting orcs and what not or sit on a ship as you tour around Albion and they'll take Albion every time. But just because everyone is patrolling Albion doesn't mean issues at home cease, they only get worse and since we can't do these jobs our clients lose confidence in our ability to do the jobs creating a vicious cycle."

As she gazed into the brunettes sobbing eye's she felt guilt wash over her. She turned her gaze to the bounty board, most of these were simple pest removal something she could easily do with this suit, gods she could do multiple jobs in a single day if she sprinted the whole way there, it only took her an hour to get back to the academy after all.

She let out a sigh, she wasn't really thinking about joining up was she, her family would never approve. She turned back to the crying woman. Her mother's rule of steel was metaphorically beaten into her as a child, it dictated her life, following orders the chain of command. It was what her mother taught her. And she would follow it.

"I'll join if you can help me." She said with a reassuring smile. The princess had asked her to stay in Tristian, to do that she was going to need money and technically the princess did outrank them.

The women looked at her with watery eyes. "Y-y-you will?"

She nodded. "But I need your help."

"A-anything."

"Did anyone else come to sign up today?" She asked with a smile, attempting to cheer the women up.

She only shook her head. "N-no, no one besides you had even shown up today."

"And this is the only mercenary guild in Tristian?"

"Y-yes, the water wraiths used to have competition but we ran them out of business."

A smile formed on her lips, ok they were coming here, they must have somehow gotten lost or had simply gotten distracted. This was Kirche, of course, she got distracted. "I need a place to clean my blade." She said raising the bag she was carrying.

"Oh yes, we have a small courtyard out back where people can take care of their weapons, we have an awning covering most of it."

Looking over she found a hallway in the corner of the tabled area. She walked over to it, finding that it led towards a door with a dirt-covered window. "If you could bring me a glass of water that would be good."

"Right away."

She walked over and opened the door finding herself in a courtyard which surprised her, they were in the in the middle of a city after all. Buildings surround the courtyard, with no clear way to get out to the street from back here. Above her was a cloth tarp that acted as a shield from the elements, in the center of which was several old scorch marks. She assumed it was due to the firepit that rested below it with several chairs that circled it.

On the other side of the courtyard were several damp wood dummies with various cuts of damage. She took a deep breath as she enjoyed the atmosphere, sure sunny days were nice but there was something about the tranquil sound of rain that caused her to feel calm.

She walked forward towards a workbench that was pressed up against the nearby wall and set her bag down. Reaching down she unsheathe Derf and set him on the table before reaching into the bag and pulling out a roll of the brown paper.

As soon as she did, however, the sword began to tremble once more. "Come on partner, y-y-you got a job now don't you. That's income." She simply ignored him as she ripped off a piece of the paper. "I mean how hard could it be, just go on back to Lawernce and have him do it, he's taken care of me for uh quite a while and knows how to clean me." The sword chuckled

She shrugged. "I've seen my mom clean her sword wand, it didn't look too hard, and besides I'll be gentle." Her mask came down covering her face. "Now hold still." The swords scream became louder and louder as she brought the rough paper to the blade. She began to rub the blade with the paper as screams came from the blade.

"Uh miss, not to be rude or anything but you should probably soak your blade first in a cleaning solution." She turned towards the voice, finding the brunette standing in the doorway a glass of water in her hand. "Here let me help." She walked forward setting down the glass on the workbench, she turned towards a barrel that rested beside the bench, she flipped open the top allowing Louise to see the clear liquid that filled it. The women grabbed Derf from off the table and inserted him into the barrel much to his relief.

Louise grabbed the glass of water, taking a sip before turning back to the women who simply gazed at the barrel. "You know I never caught your name."

A small smile formed on the women's lips. "It's Aimee. You should probably let it soak for at least a few hours before you go back to scrubbing it."

"Thanks."

A silence grew between the two girls as they stood there. "Well I should be off, you're planning to stay the night, right?" She nodded. "Then I have to get a room ready." The girl gave her a kind smile. "I hope to see you at supper." With that, she turned and walked off towards the door.

"It's Louise." The women stopped dead in her tracks and turned around confused. "My name's Louise."

"Well, have a good day Louise." She left the courtyard, leaving her alone with Derf.

After several moments of silence, Derf spoke up. "She seems nice."

She hummed in agreement. "Why do you think she knows so much about sword maintenance?"

"Who cares partner. The only thing that matters is that I can finally relax." Said with a sigh.

Perhaps Derf had the right idea, if she was going to work for the princess, these days of her being able to relax were soon going to be over. She gazed over by the door, finding a small pile of firewood then back to the fire pit.

xXXXx

A Soaked Kirche and the now armoured Tabitha walked through the deserted streets of Tristian. It had been a few hours since they bought Tabitha her armour which consisted of a grey padded coat that covered the entirety of her upper body, simple metal strips that ran down her arms, brown gloves, grey pants and some light-weight brown boots design to handle the elements. She also bought a hatchet holster which rested on her hip, the hatchet, on the other hand, rested in Tabitha's hand.

She had found it humorous at first, it looked like she had bought a jacket three sizes too big. But that was quickly fixed after visiting an old earth mage tailor who quickly hemmed the gambeson to an appropriate size for her.

The only issue was that it was on the other side of town which meant that they had to walk through the rain. This shouldn't have been a problem for them as they could have simply used wind magic to block the rain and it wasn't an issue for Tabitha who was doing exactly that. But when she had attempted to do the same Tabitha had stolen her hatchet, while also keeping her windshield to herself, leaving her to walk in the rain. It didn't help that her precious flame had abandoned her to stay by Tabitha's side the traitor.

She didn't really mind the rain, what did concern her was the cleaning that she would have to do afterwards. Sure, her armour had an anti-rust enchantment placed on it to help stop rust from forming but she was skeptical. She thought back to when she had to fight some water troll in the far east swamps of Germania.

She had been using a small island as a way to keep dry as she flung fire spell at the beasts, but a child troll had gotten bold and rushed her. She had attempted to back up and cast a fireball but had tripped and fell into the water, after that it had basically turned into a wrestling match between her and beast, which ended when she had plunged a knife into the monster's neck.

She had thought that the enchantment had worked when after a week no rust formed on her armour, but as it turned out, whoever had performed the enchantment had simply cast an illusion spell that made it look as if no rust had formed. She had learned that the hard way when she took an orc's war hammer to the chest and much to her and squad's surprise the chest piece had simply shattered. She was glad that linen can't rust as the padded armour had saved her life stopping the Warhammer from inflicting fatal damage.

Her group was not happy that they were scammed, and long story short that man is now out of business. They had found another water mage that specialized in enchantments. She was an old cleric Tristian that was visiting the country. She had enchanted the armour that she currently wore, it hadn't failed her yet, but due to the previous scam, she had always been wary of water.

"Here." The voice of Tabitha broke her from her thoughts. In front of the pair was the company hall, it was smaller than what she was used to in Germania, but it didn't matter, all that really matters was good paying contracts that could let her live a semi-decent life for a while.

The two entered the building finding the seating area completely devoid of people, but that wasn't what caught her attention, no what the redhead was drooling over was the large overflowing bounty board. It was such a far cry from Germania where there were so many different merc companies all competing for contracts that there could be little in the ways of work for weeks on end.

"I knew this was a good idea, Tabitha." She said as she gazed at the board. Moving forward she quickly looked through the papers. "Orcs, bandits, ogres, trolls, dragons-"

"Missing persons?" Asked Tabitha as she held up a new paper.

"Please Tabitha, trying to track down people can take weeks to do while we try to figure out what had happened." She turned back to the board. "Besides, lords will usually know what's causing the disappearances but will withhold that information while we spend money and time on his land so that in theory he doesn't lose as much." She took a step back as a wave of nostalgia hit her. "It's all so different here."

"Different?"

"Germania is fractured. While here in Tristian most of these contracts are pest removal back in Germania it's all about war." She took a deep breath as she turned towards her. "It was mostly proxy wars, but it all came down to each lord attempting to one-up each other. Most of these missions are directed towards the local wildlife, instead of people, and the ones that are, are directed at people who have broken the law. They never ask you to." The words die on her tongue.

"Talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, maybe one day but, not today."

"Are you here to apply?"

The pair turned towards the new voice, finding a smiling young brunette in a low-cut blue dress who stood behind the counter some distance away. The pair looked at each other, Kirche gave the small girl a nod before walking over to the counter. She leaned on the counter as she pulled off her helmet. "Me and my friend over there wish to join up with this company."

The woman's smile grew, that's great, I just nee-"

"Now, now, before we sign anything I want to hear of the perks that come with this company. Why should I as a triangle class fire mage, join up with your company instead of simply returning home to Germania where mercenaries are always in demand." She asked with her own smile.

The women's confidence was near instantly shattered. "W-w-well we have Barracks that are always open to you, s-s-so long as you complete a m-m-mission a w-w-week. S-s-same goes with food, w-w-which is provided free so long as you complete a m-m-mission weekly." The women stammered out

She let out a thoughtful hum. "That is nice, but that is standard in Germania. What else?"

"W-w-we also got a training yard in the back and a place to maintain your equipment." The women quickly blurted out.

She stared at her for a while before letting out a sigh. "Well, it can't be helped. Where are the forms we need to fill out?"

"Oh, right here." She said as she handed her the forms.

She looked it over, occasionally glancing back at her friend. "Before we sign this, how many other members are there?"

"Including you two, four mages, although he doesn't really come around here that often."

"And the other one?"

"Well, she's out back cleaning her sword. Here let me get you some quills." She crouched down behind the counter. "Oh, gods damn it."

"What happened?"

"The girl out back, I forgot to give her her form." She told her as she came back into view holding a tray with several quills and ink.

She gave her a smile. "let me bring it to her, it'll be good to see who we're going to compete against."

"Not a competition." Her companion told her from behind, striking down her smile.

She let out a sigh. "I'll still bring it out." Grabbing the forms, she handed two to Tabitha who simply stared at the pieces of paper. She walked with a brisk pace over to the back of the store, quickly finding the door to the outside.

She raced over to the door when she heard a moan that caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

"Oh yeah partner, right there." A male voice said before moaning once more. Her face heated up as her heartbeat picked up. Had she stumbled on people consummating their love? She pressed her ear up to the door in order to try and hear more of the conversation

"You know partner, I was very doubtful~ at the beginning, but you really know what you're doing." So, this was his first time doing whatever it is they were doing. A sultry grin formed on her face as her imagination went into overdrive.

"Like I said I've seen my mother do a hundred times." Taken after her mother hmm. Wait that voice. Kirche quickly kicked the door open allowing her to see Louise sitting by a fire, her sword rested in one her hands while the other was holding a blue stone that she was running down the blade's edge.

"Louise?"

"Kirche?"

"Partner, hide me, no one should see me in such an unclothe state."

xXXXx


	13. Chapter 13: The Merc company part 2

Kirche, Tabitha and Louise were currently inside of the entrance hall. After the whole ordeal embarrassing ordeal with Kirche walking in on her cleaning Derf after he had said some less than humble things. The trio had moved inside, to the hall. a fireplace that had gone unnoticed now was lit, adding to the overall comfort of the hall. However, the constant back and forth between rivals quickly dashed any sense of comfort.

''And to think that you would lie to such a nice man," Louise shouted at the redhead who sat in front of her.

"Like I said before that man wasn't going to sell to us, and Tabitha needed armour."

"So why didn't you simply go to another Blacksmith?"

she simply turned to glare at her. "We wanted something close by to the hall. What happens if we need our gear repaired, would you rather we have to trek across the town in order to get it fixed?"

"He did it out of concern, the least you could have done was go to another blacksmith."

"Does it really hurt anyone? He thinks he helped some stranded teens. He'll probably sleep like a baby tonight."

"Mission." A distant voice said attempting to break into the argument

"Lying is still wrong."

"Mission." The same distance voice repeated.

"The less he knew the better."

before Louise could answer a loud bang rang through the hall.

They turned towards the source of the sound, finding Tabitha standing near a trembling Aimee. She held her staff in front of her with both hands, it was obvious to all that she had slammed the bottom of her staff onto the floor. "Arguing, pointless. Missions to do," she said in her monotone voice.

The pair glared at her in silence as the tension in the air grew heavier. "Listen I would love to do one of the jobs, but it's already two in the afternoon, by the time we get there to do the job and get back, it's going to be well after midnight," Kirche said breaking the silence

Louise let out a laugh. "Maybe for you Zerbst, I could get there, do the job and get back before the sun sets."

She scowled at the comment. "Yeah, thanks to that freak suit of yours."

"Is that jealousy I hear."

She chuckled. "What part of that sentence sounded like jealousy? you look like a walking anatomy diagram. My armour, on the other hand, looks tasteful" she walked closer to her to her counterpart

"Tasteful? is that dead wolf you wear around your neck choking you?" she matched her

"I'll have you know that I killed this wolf a year and a half ago on my first hunt." She leaned down allowing her to be face to face with her rivle

Louise let out a bellowing laugh. "So what? you've been lugging around a dead wolf hide for that past year and a half!? No wonder why the only people who ever go to your room are horny guys."

"At least I have guys interested in coming to my room."

"Of course, they're not interested in me when my nabor looks like the average streetwalker."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That you look like a prostitute."

"Why you." she cocked back a fist ready to let it loose on the small girl in front of her.

Tabitha could only let out a small tired sigh as the two attempted to fight each other, it had surprised her at first that they would be so violent. Perhaps this was due to the fact that they were out of the formal atmosphere of the academy.

Kirche attempted to punch the girl, but she had dodged it and quickly countered with a punch of her own, hitting her in the chest which knocked her back into a table which broke under her weight.

"Now you asked for it!" she shouted as she pulled herself from the remains of the table.

"I've been waiting for this moment since you started going to the academy. Bring it!"

Kirche lunged at her. Only to be stopped by Tabitha, who waved her wand which pried the two apart and into the air before they could start beating each other.

"Hey!" the pair shouted in unison.

"Arguing pointless," she said once more. "Mission important."

"Like Kirche said before You don't have time tod-"

"Sylphid." cutting off the struggling pink-haired girl.

"Wait your familiar is fine. And we had to walk here!" the redhead shouted as she struggled in the air.

She ignored the quip, instead turning to the brunette who looked like she was about to pass out. "Important jobs?"

The girl stayed silent as she continued to stare at where the two girls used to be.

she let out a sigh before walking up to the bounty board, gazing at the various contracts, she soon found one that seemed satisfactory. she swiftly ripped it off of the board before heading back to the pair, slamming the paper onto a nearby table. waving her wand, letting the two girls down.

"What's this?" Kirche asked as her feet finally touched the ground.

"Job. orcs. three hours away. thirty minutes by dragon."

"And you want to us to do it?" Louise asked as she walked forward.

"Here to do work. not to argue."

she picked up the paper and quickly began to read it. "Orcs, group of ten, seen nea-" only for the redhead to steal the paper from her

"The town of Courcy. payment is-" Only for her to steal it back.

"Four hundred new gold for the complete eradicatio-

"Of the camp."

The blue haired mage could only let out another tired sigh as her two partners began to fight over the piece of paper.

Punches began to fly as she walked on over to a stall and sat down before pulling out a small notebook and quickly began to write.

 _Suit augmentation of personality seems minimal, she seems more balanced in terms of how she handles different stimuli but aggression seems to be heightened. However, the fact that Kirche wasn't taken out in a single punch means that she was holding back, perhaps subconsciously._

She took the time to look back at the fight. Several tables now lay broken on the ground as the two continued to trade punches. Suddenly Louse flew back towards her, quickly she got out of the stall as the small girl impacted the table causing it to collapse under the weight. She watched as the girl slowly rose to her feet as she shook her head. Louise's gaze quickly fixed on the redhead across the room igniting her fire once more. Letting out a cry of anger she lunged at the women once more.

"Yeah get her partner, teach her a lesson!"

Tabitha could only watch as concern grew within her. Ether things were starting to get back to normal or they were growing accustomed to this new life way too easily.

xXXXx

The group soared high above the clouds grey rain clouds on Tabitha's familiar. The sun had begun to descend from the sky as time marched on. Kirche and Louise both had their helmets off revelling several welts and bruises from the scuffle before. Kirche and Tabitha were both making a plan on how to deal with the orcs while Louise simple enjoyed the feeling of wind through her hair. She turned everyone out simply thinking to herself as she enjoyed the feeling.

But as their destination drew closer her mind began to wander to the battle she was about to get wrapped up in. Her mind was almost completely sure that she could handle these orcs on her own. Orcs were terrifying there was no doubt about that, a single camp could wipe out towns no problem, what they did to children and women only added to that fact. She wouldn't feel any guilt for killing these monsters

The sudden feeling of weightlessness brought her back to reality, allowing her to realize that they had begun their descent. the rain clouds approached the group. The bluenette not wanting to get wet again waved her wand. a hole in the clouds soon formed allowing the group to see the dark forest below them.

"Is this the area where the orcs were spotted?" she asked to no one in particular, receiving two nods in return. grabbing her helmet from her hip she put it on, quickly activating her Tactical visor she began to scan the forest looking for any sign of the orcs.

She found a small clearing, zooming in she found the telltale signs of an Orc camp. several tents made out of animal fur. a large bonfire in the center of camp, various cages made out of wood and bone. although she couldn't see any of the Orcs, she knew this was the camp. she gazed at the number in the center of the screen.

"left two and a half miles."

The two other people turned to their left, attempting to find what she had seen. she could hear the faint muttering of spells as she continued to gaze at the clearing. "Ok, so we found the camp. but where are the orcs?"

"fifteen." the bluenette spoke up

The two other girls stared at her confused.

"Five tents, each tent holds three orcs. Fifteen max."

"Ok scratch that, we found the camp and the maximum amount of orcs in the area is fifteen. Anything else?" she added

the group stayed in silence until the dragon they were on let out a small kue. Kirche and Louise were both taken by surprise by the dragons small call. they had never heard Sylphid roar but that noise was the last thing they were expecting.

"She found one."

"Was that-." Louise started only to be cut off by a glaring Tabitha. "Never mind."

She leaned forward whispering something into the dragon's earhole. the beast suddenly dropped faster towards the earth. "There," Tabitha said softly as she pointed towards the forest.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED.**_

As her world turned grey, she could see a small red creature through the trees a few hundred feet away, it was most likely acting as a scout for the camp. Pulling her bow off of her back, she adjusted the draw weight, this orc was pretty far away and due to the fact that orc's can take a lot more abuse than a human she readied it quickly grabbing an arrow out of the quiver and into the bow.

Her suit strengthened her muscles as she began to slowly pull back on the string. She steadied her breath, with the bow now ready she adjusted her aim, compensating for wind, the speed they were travelling at and other various factors.

"Louise, what are you doing? You're not going to land that shot and then they're going to know we're here." The redhead next to her told her.

She was about to retort when a small voice encouraged her. "Do it."

A smile formed on her face as she prepped once more. "What Tabitha you can't possibly thin-"

"Shush." The bluenette said cutting her off. Glancing over Louise found Tabitha staring intensely before she simply nodded.

Gaining the approval of her teammate, she quickly turned back to her target who was still unaware of its impending death. Her vision zoomed in onto the beast as she exhaled for the final time. The bowstring quickly pushed the arrow from its hold. The arrow cut through the air with speed and grace, the subtle sound of the arrow was barely even audible as it travelled to its destination.

She had lost track of the arrow, but the beast was suddenly thrown back out of her vision as the sound of her arrow impacting wood could be heard.

A groan could be heard from her side as she turned off her nanovision. "Great, now that she's missed we're going to have to deal with orcs on alert."

"Need to hurry." The dragon suddenly lowered itself, until they were only a hundred feet off the ground.

She knew she didn't miss. She couldn't have, her aim had been dead on target and her suit had accounted for every other variable. It didn't matter what the other two were saying, she had to find out if she had missed.

Glancing over the side of the dragon, she took a deep breath, before flinging herself from the mount. She could her teammates call her name as the ground rushed towards her.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR.**_

She landed with a resounding thud as her armour deactivated from absorbing the overwhelming force. Standing to her full height she looked skyward finding them slowly descending from the dragon as rain impacted her visor.

Tabitha was the first to reach the ground, the only thing she said was a scolding. "reckless." Kirche, on the other hand, had simply called her a showoff.

Louise ignored the quip, and marched off into the woods, towards where her arrow should have landed with the two people following behind her.

The trio stalked the underbrush, soon coming to the sight of a small twitching orc pressed up against a tree It looked young, most likely a teenager in the orc's society, but it didn't matter to her, they were all baby eaters. It had originally put the group on alert, but they soon realized that it was dead. An arrow in the monster's neck had impaled it to the tree.

A smile formed on her face, she knew she didn't miss. Walking up, she grabbed hold of the arrow, giving it a quick yanked she pulled it from the tree allowing the body to fall to the ground.

"Impressive." A soft voice commented, causing her grin to grow wider.

"I will admit, that shot was impressive," Kirche told her.

"Thanks." She said softly in reply. she turned towards the group. "We should probably make our way to their camp, taking out any orcs we run into." She turned towards the direction of the camp. "I'll scout ahead." Before any protest could be made she activated her cloak and dashed into the forest.

The forest became a blur around her as she sped up, with her cloak deactivating not long into the journey. She ran for several minutes, her cloak soon before slowing down as she heard some noise from nearby. She swiftly rushed into a nearby bush.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED.**_

Her world once again became grey. She could see two large red figures in the distance, carrying something between them. She quickly moved forward from tree to tree, attempting to figure out what the monsters were carrying.

It soon became clear that they were carrying a human, but due to nanovision, she couldn't quite make out if it was a man or a woman.

In the end, it didn't matter to her, this person was a subject of the crown, and he needed help. Taking up her duty to protect the people she readied her bow, quickly lowering the draw weight for the new range. She Remembering back to when her father taught her about how to speed up her rate of fire with a bow. Grabbing three arrows from her quiver, she stabbed two into the ground as she placed one on the bowstring.

She had an easier time pulling back on the bow, hardly relying on the improved strength of the suit. With the string pulled back she took aim, aiming at the knee of the walking orc, a tough shot to be sure, but she needed a way to make sure that the person wouldn't be hit by a stray arrow.

Breathing out she made final adjustments to her aim, before letting go of the string. In a single moment, the monster on the receiving end let out a deep pained scream as he tumbled to the ground, letting them go in the process. She pulled the arrow out of the ground quickly sliding it into place as she took aim once more, this time towards the head which ended the monsters life.

She turned her attention to the beast's partner, who had dropped the human for what looked like a horn of some kind. Grabbing the last arrow from the ground she pulled back and attempted to take him out. The arrow, however, went wide, flying right by its face. Louise to let out a short groan of annoyance. It now aware of its mortality quickly sounded a horn in its hands before running off in the opposite direction of the camp.

This caused Louise to pause for a moment, orcs weren't smart, that was a fact. If they were, they would have organized a long time ago and attempt to carve out a country. So why was he running away from his group? Moreover, when did orcs retreat. She quickly moved forward, towards the person on the ground as she placed her bow on her back and unsheathe her blade.

Deactivating her nanovision she found that the person was a woman who appeared to be in her young twenties, her dull red hair covered some simple commoner clothes that she wore. She looked around making sure that she wasn't going to be ambushed before turning back to the women. She crouched down, "Hello, are you ok?" The women remained silent. Turning her over, she found a dozen circular holes in the women's back.

A wave of confusion washed over her. She had died of a musket wound. She quickly turned towards the fallen orc, walking over to the body she found her answer. It was a musket, seemingly made for them. The trigger guard had been widened to support the large finger of the monster, the stock was similarly larger, although she doubted that they would even use it. However, another thing that confused her was that the barrel seems to widen slightly at the end and was noticeably shorter.

Orcs couldn't have made this she was sure of it. They were simply too stupid to create such a weapon, someone had to be supplying them.

No, she couldn't spend time pondering on who had given these creatures it. She had a job to do.

Standing up to her full height, she looked to where the orc had run off before glancing back to where the musket as a new idea formed in her head. Using Derf she cut the strap off of the musket, allowing her to grab the gun. She quickly placed her new weapon onto her back, before dashing after the orc.

xXXXx

Kirche was not happy. Louise had decided to run off ahead to scout, which by itself wasn't that big of an issue, the problem arose when not ten minutes later, an orc horn sounded throughout the forest, alerting all to an impending attack. If that wasn't bad enough the rain picked up, mother nature obviously attempting to rub salt in the wound.

"Here." The soft voice of her friend called out to her. Glancing over to the small dark figure, she found her standing over a human and orc body.

As Kirche approached she found two arrows lodged in the skull and knee of the orc, while another arrow was found impaled into a nearby tree.

But as her gaze shifted to the other body, she uttered a single word. "Blunderbuss." She soon realized who she had said it in front of and quickly continued. "It's a weapon from Germania, my family was pouring money into finding ways to make commoner soldiers deadlier at short range." She turned her attention to the orc body that laid nearby, walking over to it she began to rummage through the various pouches.

"What does it do." She asked in the same soft voice.

She continued to rummage through the pouches looking for any evidence to back up her assumption. "The best way to explain it, hmm. I guess you could say it's a lot like your windy icicle. But instead of ice, it's metal and really short range."

She pulled her hand out of the pouch which now held several musket balls. She quickly began to scan the surface of the balls, soon finding the last thing she wanted. there were no seams in the metal, she didn't know if it had changed in the year and a half since she left her families land, but only her family had the skill to create such perfect balls.

She stood up as she continued to roll the ball in her hand, she no longer cared about simply exterminating these orcs, she needed to find a gun that this orc was using, that would be the only way for her to confirm that this ball belonged to her family.

She turned towards her attempting to speak when a loud battle cry echoed through the forest. Looking towards the source of the sound, they found a large orc most likely the chief, clad in makeshift armour made out of various bits a human armour and shields in his hands was what looked like a war axe made out of a large wooden club and a sharpened human shield. It was flanked by a large grey dire wolf.

It soon became clear that he wasn't alone as the sounds of movement could be heard all around them. Much to their surprise, they had been surrounded. She slowly glanced around as her mind was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the orcs used tactics.

No, she couldn't let them psych her out, she had dealt with orcs before this would be no different. The orcs slowly approached the two, she could count eleven total. Her mind began to race even faster, there was no way they could take on so many, not at this range. She briefly pondered going straight for the chief, if they could kill it the rest would scatter, but this was an extermination job, the Lord wanted them dead.

"Tabitha, I need a large block of ice right in front of me." She asked as she put on her helmet and pulled out her hatchet. The orcs continued to inch forward.

Sweat began to form on her face, as the anticipation of battle took over all senses. The block of ice formed in front of them as the orcs began to charge them.

She quickly aimed down at the block of ice, casting a fireball directly at it. In a single moment, the forest was blanketed in a thick cloud of fog. Using the newfound cover she jumped out of the way of the attack landing on her stomach a few feet away, several deep cries of pain could be heard from where she once stood, that was the orc intelligence she remembered.

Raising to her knees, she attempted to stand up, when a sudden kick to her stomach sent her tumbling away, Her armour clatered against each other as she came to a stop. Looking back through the fog, she found the large orc chieftain, in his hands the war axe. She quickly got to her feet and raised her hatchet, she casted a fireball at the beast before turning back to face the battle in the fog which seemed to glow blue from her staff.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could faintly see something coming towards her. Her instincts took over causing her to drop to the floor. A loud thump could be heard from behind her, she turned towards the sound finding the shield axe planted in a nearby tree. She followed the shaft until she found herself gazing at the same orc. Faint scorch marks could be seen on its armoured chest and arms but it looked like she hadn't even affected it.

The beast yanked its weapon free and charged at her. She quickly dodged out of the way of its charge as it once again implanted its axe into a tree. She had to get physical with these monsters, they obviously had some sort of immunity to fire, how they had gotten it she couldn't be sure, but she knew that she would have to rely on her skills with her hatchet.

She gazed down at her weapon, it had been a while since she had last done this, and she wasn't excited in reliving the pain that using the technique brought.

It seemed that it had gotten its axe stuck deeper this time as it was having trouble pulling it free. It had seemed that luck had started to favour her.

She closed her eyes as she began to concentrate on her forearms, attempting to pool her willpower into them. The all too familiar burning sensation that doing this brought filled her mind. Her body was beginning to alight once more, her inner fire was stoked as the familiar feeling of chains weighed her arms down.

Opening her eyes, she found it attempting to rush her once more. Bringing her arm back, she threw the hatchet. Time seemed to slow down for her as the hatchet sailed through the air, only for it to pass over its shoulder.

Thinking on her feet she muttered a quick incantation. A red-hot chain shot from her free hand, snaking through the air until it met the hatchet, connecting at the base of the shaft.

She swiftly yanked the chain with both hands. causing the bottom of the blade to impale its self in its shoulders. it sped up, obviously in blood rage. She crouched before using a bit of wind magic to jump over it, using the chains to guide her decent, she landed on its back. She quickly let go of the axe pressing both palms to its ears. Muttering the incantation, she felt her forearms ignite with pain as fire began to pour out of her hands and into its ears.

It let out a blood-curdling cry of pain as fire soon began pouring out of every available orifice. It soon toppled over forward, allowing her to collect her hatchet and hopped off.

Turning to the rest of the battle she found the fog had dissipated allowing her to see Tabitha. The bodies of several orcs surrounded the girl all of which had ice embed into various parts of their bodies.

But before she could aid her, she was tackled by a new threat. She let out a small groan as she slid on the ground. Looking up she found a Dire wolf standing over her. It swiftly lunged at her throat, obviously wanting to get revenge for killing its master. She quickly brought up an arm which the wolf clamped down on.

The metal groaned as it was misshaped from the beast's powerful bite. She ground her teeth as her arm screamed at her. Gripping the hatchet with a hotter fury, she cleaved at its neck, sending it off of her. She mounted it as she pulled her hatchet free as the wolf whimpered. Holding it down, she let her rage control her as she brought her axe down on the wolf a final time.

She slowly stood up on shaky legs she once again turned towards Tabitha, finding her in the midst of combat.

The girl had dodged an overhead club attack, before quickly forming an icicle at the end of her staff making pseudo ice spear and stabbed it into the beast. Not a moment later its back began to grow before ultimately exploding in a shower of gore.

An orc that resided behind her raised its large wooden club in an attempt to kill the ice mage, seeing that her friend was in need of help, she quickly spun her hatchet over her head, before throwing it, wrapping around the club perfectly. Quickly gripping the chains, she pulled at the club as it started it's decent causing it to barely miss the small girl.

Tabitha, now aware of the new danger, quickly pulled her staff out of the orc and spun around. The icicle disappeared being replaced with an ice axe head as she sliced through its knee. Giving it no quarter, she attacked once more slicing the monster at its neck as it toppled to the ground.

The forest soon grew quiet as the fighting ended. Something was off, she could feel it in the air. Breathing heavily she asked the girl. "Tabitha, how many did you kill?"

"Six."

Where were the rest? Orcs didn't run away unless their chief was dead, and they wouldn't have been able to notice it.

But as she attempted to leave towards the camp, she felt something tug at her mind. Looking back, she found the body of the chieftain. The questions began to flood back to her, as she once again wondered how he was able to shrug off a fireball.

Walking over to the body, she rolled the body over, allowing her to see the makeshift, armour as well as the melted head of the orc. Its putrid smell filled her nose. ignoring it she moved to the leather straps which held it in place, raising her hatchet she cut them before pulling the chest piece away. But what she saw caused her heart to sink.

On the orcs chest was an all too familiar rune, it was an enchantment of fire protection, It was it was first-born magic, something she was all too familiar with. She dropped her hatchets as she ripped off her gauntlets, she had to make sure that she wasn't simply seeing things. Picking up the hatchet she stopped the illusion magic that she had casted this morning.

Her arms glowed a bright blue colour which soon dissipated allowing her to see the ruins that covered her arms. She could feel shock overtake every other feeling in her mind. It was exactly the same, there was no doubt that her parents had a hand in this. But she had to find out whether this was on purpose or these monsters escaped on their own.

She could feel a tiny hand rest on her shoulder. Turning she found Tabitha staring at her, her face was as close to concern as the blue-haired girl could get. She was lucky to have a friend like her.

Her thoughts were cut as a loud explosion shook the forest. The source of which came in the direction of the town. They looked at each other, that had to be Louise but what was she doing at the camp? they quickly sprinted towards the camp.

They soon arrived at the camp, finding it in ruins. Every structure in the camp was destroyed, a crater could be seen where a tent once resided. She looked around for Louise as worry began to build. Only for it to vanish as the scent of sulphur filled her nose.

This wasn't Louise, this was gunpowder. She spirited over to where the crater was and quickly descended into it. She scoured it looking for any guns that could connect her family with these orcs. But she couldn't find anything, any gun she did find were in pieces or scorched so bad that any symbol that was on it couldn't be read.

She collapsed to her knees, it was pointless, they failed their first job, she couldn't find evidence of her parent's involvement and they had lost one of their members.

Another explosion rocked the forest. Causing her to feel a new wave of hope. Perhaps she had gotten another chance.

She quickly got to her feet and sprinted towards the source of the sound for several minutes before, soon finding herself at the entrance of a collapsed cave.

She was initially confused as she gazed around the cave entrance, but she soon found the arm of Louise's suit sticking out of the rubble.

"Louise!" She shouted, before running up to her. Pulling out her hatchet she levitated the debris off of her rival before pulling her out of the cave. She dragged her back into the forest before setting her down. Crouching over her she pulled at the helmet in order to confirm if she was still alive.

"Stop!" The sword at her hip shouted. "Partners hurt. The suit is trying to heal her but you need to leave her be, at least for a bit."

She continued to gaze at the girl who laid before her. "How bad?"

"Any normal person would be dead three times over."

She bit her lip, they couldn't stay around here orcs were around, and the last thing she wanted was to leave themselves open to ambush. "Can she be moved."

"If you're careful."

"Tabi-" She said as she turned stopping when she realized that the blue haired girl was next to her. She simply nodded as a gust of wind ran over the pair. Looking upwards she found Sylphid already descending.

xXXXx

A tall older looking woman, with long flowing pink hair, stomped through the hallway of the RTN Henry airship. She was clad in strange white, grey and black armour that covered her from head to toe. the only areas of difference where the shoulders which were painted dark blue, a golden fleur de lys in the center. Dark grey hexagons covered the armour with the word C.E.L.L. was embroidered on the chest piece.

On her hip were several pouches that held various magic material as well as her sword-wand and helmet which was the strangest thing about her armour. It looked like any other helmet except it used a sort of red glass to cover the eyes, allowing her to see while simultaneously being protected. But what confused people the most was the thing covering her mouth. It extended outwards with two black disks placed on either side of the mouth.

But anyone in the hallway that found the armour odd kept it to themselves, as they could see that Karin the heavy wind was fuming. Even the people that could usually handle her harsh and no-nonsense demeanour steered clear of her.

She finally reached her room quickly flinging the door open and entering before slamming it shut. Her room was extremely barebones, a bed in the corner a bookcase, several small wooden boxes on a desk situated near the door, and two long metal suitcases that stood vertically on the wall across from her. And a larger wooden box that sat next to the desk

She moved over to the desk, quickly flipping the lid off of the box and pulling out a wine bottle and glass before finally sitting down at the desk. They had lost yet another airship bringing the number up to thirteen this month.

She filled her glass, quickly downing the liquid before slamming the glass back on the desk. it was clear that this was Reconquista doing, obviously trying to clear a path to the mainland.

She filled her glass yet again, downing it in one swig like the first time. The advisers from Gallia and Germania had agreed that something needed to be done about the rebelling, they need to quell it in order to do their job. It was simple, they were going to send a small team of experienced mages herself included to take out Cromwell in a single strike, while would hopefully cause the entire rebellion to fall.

The glass began to shake under her grip as she poured yet another glass. It was that blond moon-eyed kid. Apparently, the pope had heard of her plan, and simply wanted nothing to do with it. The brat said that other than the ports we currently occupy there would be no setting foot on Albion unless direct aggression from Reconquista was suffered.

And therein lied the problem. There was no evidence of an attack, the thirteen ships that they had lost simply vanished, no signs of attack no signs of battle, nothing. They left port in the morning but never returned. Even when they had started running patrols at half-hour intervals the airships vanished, the people behind them didn't even know that it had happened until they had arrived.

But the thing that ate at her the most, was the rumours about the plague. Stories about it melting people, eating them alive. It wasn't the plague itself that scared, it was the implications that surround its appetence. She had seen it before, and it being here scared her.

A knock at the door broke her from her thoughts. "Madam Valliere, the advisors want you on deck." A muffled

She let out a tired sigh, as she gazed at the bottle in her hand. "I'll be right there." She quickly put the bottle and glass away, as she stood up. "No rest for the wicked." She muttered to herself. She left the room as fast as she entered it.

xXXXx

 ** _So this is the last chapter for today. tomorrow I'll be focusing on the next chapter of the story which should be out next Sunday if all goes to plan._**

 ** _Have a nice day everyone._**


	14. Chapter 14: The Merc company part 3

Louise dashed through the darkened forest, as the rain as it battered her helmet. She cursed under her breath, she shouldn't have picked up that gun. She should have just followed the founder damned orc.

As if the gods were listening, the orc suddenly appeared in front of her, running away from her. She instantly slowed down, only going as fast as she needed to shadow him.

"Partner, you think this is a good idea?" The blade on her hip suddenly whispered to her.

The orc in front of her slowed to a stop, as he drank from what appeared to be a deerskin bag. "What do you mean?" She asked as she dashed behind a tree.

"You should have waited for your teammates before you ran off."

She watched as the orc looked around for a moment before continuing down the path. "It's fine, that man we fought before used lightning spells, meaning he was at least a triangle class wind mage, and we beat him." Leaving the tree, she continued to follow the orc.

"We didn't beat him, we ran away."

"I prefer the term tactical retreat." She brought up a hand and wiped the water off of her visor as she continued to run. "And besides, we saved the princess, and that's what matters."

She could spot a cliff face in the distance, with a cave entrance at the bottom, she could see the faint outline of two orcs guarding the entrance with makeshift halberds made out of various metals in their hands.

No longer needing to shadow the orc, she quickly dove into the brush off of the path as she began the trek to the cave.

As she closed in on the cave she began to be able to hear the orcs inside, speaking that brutish language of theirs.

Looking around, she soon found a large branch hanging above her, that looked as if it could support her weight.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

With her new-found invisibility she hopped up onto a branch, that let her look over the cave entrance, the guards blissfully unaware of her presence. but even from her new perch, she couldn't see anything in the cave.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED**_

Even with her enhanced vision she still couldn't see anything. She started to plan her way in, she would have to deal with the guards first.

Deactivating her nanovision in order to conserve her energy, she reached back in order to grab two arrows. However, she only found a single arrow. Quickly turning her head, she looked over at her quiver finding it completely empty.

She muttered a curse under her breath as her mind began planning an alternate course of action.

She slowly turned towards the translucent Derf, as the details of her plan cemented in her mind.

"Partner what are you planning?" The sword nervously asked.

Saying nothing she grabbed the arrow and slid it into her hand that held the bow before unsheathing her sword.

Holding him in a reverse grip, she took aim at one of the two orcs using the arm that held her bow.

Reeling her arm back, she took a deep breath, a line formed in front of her leading directly to the chest of the orc, perhaps this was that feature her suit showed her in the dream.

She launched her arm forward as her cloak deactivated, sending her sword flying towards the monster. Trusting her suit to be right, she placed her arrow on the bow, quickly pulling back on the string. the sword impaled the orc to the cliff face by the neck.

The orc next to him looked on in shock, quickly he attempted to run into the cave to get to cover. She let go of the bowstring, allowing the arrow to soar through the air hitting it in the back, the force of the arrow sending it to the ground in a heap of limbs.

Placing her bow on her back she hopped off the tree and quickly ran over to where her sword laid. "Jeez partner, why didn't you warn me that you were going to throw me like that?"

But before she could answer the sound of heavy steps filled her head, orcs were coming.

She swiftly pulled him out of the cliff face sticking him in his sheath before grabbing the musket off of her back.

Pressing her back up against the wall, her gun aimed at the entrance. She steadied her breathing as the sounds of walking became louder.

Her finger wrapped around the trigger as her anticipation grew.

The large humanoid figure of an orc entered her vision a musket in its hands ready to fire as well as several round balls on its hip, quickly she adjusted her aim to the beast's head and pulled the trigger.

Its head disappeared in a fog of pink. Knowing that there were more behind him, she quickly dashed forward. She yanked the musket from its hands, while simultaneously grabbing its chest to use it as a shield.

A blast of musket fire was heard as a sudden weight pushed on her shield. Sticking the musket under its arm she gazed by her shield, finding an orc in the process of clumsily reloading the gun. Taking aim, she fired. Causing the orc to stumble backward as it let out a pained scream as it fell to the ground.

More gunfire battered her shield, as she became aware of the several orcs that made up a messy firing line in front of her. On either side of them were several muskets, that allowed them to keep up the pressure.

She slowly backed up as she looked around. She needed a way to get by then, but with all that firepower, she didn't trust her suit to be able to withstand that.

Glancing down she found firebombs attached at its hip.

Her mind quickly ran through a list of nearby items that she could use to light one. She soon looked at the musket in her hand. Jamming the hammer back with her hip she brought the flintlock close to the firebombs fuse before pulling the trigger once more.

The sparks from the gun caused the fuse to light up, the flame travelled down the fuse.

"Uh, partner?" The sword nervously asked

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

"Not now."

Dropping the gun, she charged forward, towards the orc firing line, as gunfire impacted her flesh shield.

With the time ticking down, she quickly hefted the body into the air, before throwing it at the monsters.

An explosion rocked the cave, as the firebombs on the orcs hip went off one after another, flinging bits of the orc across the cave as rocks began to fall from the ceiling.

A pair of orcs who were most likely hiding behind the firing line charged forward.

She quickly dashed forward. The orc closest to her wielded a bastard sword, easily matching her height.

It launched its sword forward, attempting to stab her. She dodged to the side, quickly retaliating with a kick to its knee. The sickening sound of the bone being crushed echoed in her ears, as it let out a pained scream as it began to fall to the ground.

She grabbed hold of it, swiftly pulling Derf out of the sheath she sliced its neck.

Behind him was an orc armed with a large winged spear that stepped forward to challenge her. Dashing forward, she tossed the corpse at the spear-wielding orc, causing it to be thrown off balance. Not letting any advantage slip she quickly stabbed Derf into the pair.

It let out a pained cry as it fell back under the weight.

As the bodies fell, she turned back to the entrance, finding the pathway clear, she let out a relieved sigh, she really should try and plan these things out more often.

 _ **CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED**_.

Turning back to the cave, she found a small figure, in its hands was a bow and arrow aimed directly at her. She could faintly see a circular shape on the arrow, a small glow of a burning fuse, slithered towards it.

She felt time slow down her mind looked for a way out of this situation. Gazing at the floor she found the orc's spear laying in his hand.

Sliding her boot underneath the spear, she flung it upwards into her free hand, she quickly reeled back her arm, before launching it at the figure.

It fell backwards causing the arrow to miss her completely, instead, impacting the ceiling behind her.

She could only watch as it gave way, blocking the entrance, trapping her in the cave.

She let out a sigh as she pulled her mask up, allowing her to rub her temples. She silently cursed to herself, as she reluctantly glanced at the empty wand holster, she should have gotten that wand back from the princess before running off.

Who was she kidding, even if she had a wand what was she going to do, all of her spells ended in explosions, and she really doubted that using more explosives to clear the way would lead to anything other than herself getting crushed.

"Nice plan partner." The sword remarked.

She felt herself scowl as her mask came back down. "Look it wasn't a perfect plan, but it's going well so far."

"And what part of the plan said to cause a cave in?"

"The plan was to exterminate the orcs, now they can't escape." She told him as she began to walk deeper into the cave.

"Whatever partner." He said finally relenting.

She soon made it to the figure, finding a small goblin, the rabbit pelts that covered its chest was no match for the large spear that stuck out of its front. Placing a foot on its chest to hold it down, she yanked the spear from its hold before tossing it aside. leaning down she rolled it over before pulling off its quiver. Examining the arrows within, she found only a few arrows, all of which had firebombs tied off at the front of the arrows.

She scoffed at the crudeness of the design as she began to pull the firebombs off of the arrows. It made almost no sense to use these. The weight lowered the range as well as causing the arrow to become unstable in the air.

She ran a finger across the tip of the arrow, it looked extremely well made, but she couldn't really tell what metal it consisted of.

Placing an arrow on the bow, she pulled the string back, finding that the arrow fit perfectly. Satisfied she placed them in her quiver before turning to the firebombs, they could be useful, but without something to light them, they would be useless.

She suddenly turned back to the goblin and began to search his person, he had to have a way of lighting these. She soon found her answer in a piece of flint tied off around his belt by a piece of rope. A small dagger rested beside it.

She tied the firebombs to her hip before grabbing the flint and dagger.

She felt a new wave of confidence wash over her as she gazed at her new equipment. She briefly wondered if her mother ever had to scavenge equipment from goblins.

She let out a small chuckle, from the stories she heard of her mother, she would have simply brought the whole cave down with her wind magic and be done with it.

A small sigh escaped as her mind began to return to the task at hand.

She began her trek deeper into the cave, eventually finding a lit torch along the path.

She grabbed it off of its perch, giving her a way to see without having to use up her suit power. but as she continued her descent into the dark, the tense atmosphere began to weigh down on her.

The stalagmites that flanked her, glistened in the torchlight occasionally causing her to jump at their shadows. The constant sound of dripping water only added to the tension in the air.

She knew from stories that orcs weren't much keen on ambushing targets, they saw it as weak, but the fact that goblins were with them caused her to be on high alert for any possible ambushes.

But no matter how deep into the cave she got, she didn't find a single other goblin.

After several minutes of walking, she soon found a bright room in front of her. This was different from the torchlight she sparsely encountered on her trek down here, it was natural.

Perhaps that orc that ran away wasn't just an outlier, perhaps that fight caused the rest to flee, grabbing anything they could.

She jogged up to the light cautiously, taking her time to make sure that she wouldn't be attacked from behind.

But as she began to close in on the light, she began to hear various grunts that made up the orcish language as well as a scream that seemed to belong to a human.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

Dropping the torch, she rushed forward into the light, her eyes soon adjusted finding a wall of stalagmites blocking her path. She made her way to the stalagmites, finding a large circular room below her that seemed to be caked in blood, light came from the ceiling which had a hole to the surface, allowing the sun and rain to enter.

The shouting of orcs caught her attention, below her she found Orcs and goblins encircling the room, she felt her mouth dry, there were at least forty orcs.

 _ **CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED**_

She turned, finding a large orc in the center of the room It stood at least thirteen feet tall and wore immaculate plate armour that covered everything but his head. Its underbites was even worse than the normal orc, with tusks that extended past its cheeks.

She could feel sweat begin to form on her brow as she gazed at the monster in front of her. She knew she had to move, it was only a matter of time before she was found. But her legs wouldn't, they trembled, unwilling to move even an inch.

The beast lumbered forward towards her, each step he took rumbled throughout the cave. "Where do ya fink ya're go'n 'umie?" It bellowed out. She felt shock overtake her, it talked, the orc talked in Tristian, how, why? Why.

At that moment she became aware of the man in front of it. He was on his stomach and appeared to be a knight, due to the dented heavy metal armour that covered his body and face and blue torn cloth covered his back that showed part of the Tristian coat of arms. She could hear faint groans as the man attempted to crawl towards a wand that rested in front of him, but it was no use. The orc would catch up to him and end his life.

She had to do something, she couldn't simply let this man die. No, she needed to save him, she couldn't let another person die because of her. "I thought yer mages were strong." It laughed. She had the power to save him, she needed to be fast.

She pulled out her bow, quickly increasing the draw weight, to something that would actually hurt the beast.

Grabbing a stolen arrow, she slid it into place. She stood up before beginning to pull back on the string.

"Partner what are you doing!?" Her sword whispered. "Stay out of it and get out of here."

She simply ignored the sword, instead, taking aim at the monster's head.

It brought up its foot, to crush the man. This was the opportunity, he was off balance, she could use this to her advantage.

She decloaked as she let go of the string. The arrow impacted the orc, just above its brow. It hollowed in pain, as it stumbled backwards, saving the man from being crushed. Pressing her advantaged she placed the bow on her back as she unsheathed Derf, before jumping from her position towards its head.

She reeled her arm back as she soared through the air.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

She collided with it, quickly implanting the sword deep within its skull, the sound of its cracking bones confirmed its death.

But before she could celebrate, the monster began to fall over. Wrapping her arms around the head she held on as the beast began to fall over.

A loud thud echoed across the room as it collided with the ground, kicking up dust.

She soon became aware of the angry crowd now watching her. Everywhere she looked there was a mob of feral orcs and goblins, angry that she had ruined what little entertainment they had.

She looked back, finding the man she had saved sitting up by a cave wall a wand rested in his hand. Ok, so she wasn't surrounded, just encircled with a man who probably couldn't cast a single spell.

She quickly dashed backwards, as the mob of orcs, began to charge. The mask covered his emotions but she knew he was surprised.

Sliding to his side, she grabbed hold of the wand, the man offering no resistance. She aimed at the closest group of orcs. Muttering a single incantation an explosion rocked the cave as orcs were thrown through the air.

 _ **UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED**_

She ignored the suit, as she took aim once more, casting explosion after explosion, tossing orcs across the cave.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her suits energy dropping as she continued to cast spells.

She grit her teeth, why was her willpower tied to the suit? She shook her head once more, she could figure this out once out of the cave.

Yanking the wand out of the man's hand, before advancing on her enemies.

She found most of the orcs unconscious, the ones that didn't, were so few that they understood that they wouldn't win this fight.

She quickly dashed back to the man as she put her sword away. "Can you walk?"

"L-l-l" the man sputtered out much to her confusion.

 _ **CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED**_

"Look out."

She turned just in time, to see a large metal club fill her vision.

 _ **MAXIM-**_

Before her armour covered her body, the club impacted her Sending her body through the air as she dropped the wand the sound of bone cracking could be faintly heard, as she let out a pained scream.

her body was thrown through several stalagmites before finally hitting the cave wall. She groaned as her body came to rest on the ground.

She attempted to pick herself up but found that her arm remained limp, not wanting to move.

Red text filled her vision informing her that her left shoulder had been broken.

She gripped at her shoulder, the pain was overwhelming her senses as she began to feel tears form on her face.

"Partner get up!" A faint voice shouted

The pain was soon dulled, most likely due to the suit's influence. She turned back to the center of the room, finding the huge orc standing once more in its immaculate armour, its head now covered by a helmet. She looked passed him finding the huge body dissolving in the middle of the room.

The orc began to lumber towards her, in its hands was a large metal club that looked to be twice her size. She could only gape at the monster. How, how was it still alive.

"Ya fink yer puny sword kould kill me?" It told her, in its deep voice.

She had to move, she had to get up. Her legs trembled as she picked herself up.

She could begin to feel her arm once more, as the orc got within range. It raised its club before bringing it down on her position.

She threw herself out of the way of it just before it struck the ground causing the entire cave to rumble.

She grit her teeth, using both hands she forced herself to her feet. She glanced down at the bowstring that covered her chest. As an idea came to her. She had to put distance between them.

She dashed by the orc, as it tried to stomp her, dodging it with ease she ran towards the man. She couldn't help but notice all the orcs that were crushed, no doubt by the large one. She pushed the horror in front of her to the back of her mind, as she finally made it to the man.

"Sorry." She quickly ripped blue cloth from the man's uniform he offered no protest.

"Stop runn'n an' let me krush ya!"

She ran to where a large throne and wooden poll rested. It was a crude idea, but perhaps this was what was necessary. She grabbed the only unbroken firebomb off of her hip.

Using the cloth she stole from the man and quickly tied the firebomb to the end of an arrow. The cave rumbled causing her to look up, the orc was upon her, his club at his side.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

She dashed through the monster's legs, as it swung its oversized club. As she made it behind it, she crouched down as she grabbed hold of the flint and dagger.

Grabbing the arrow, she stuck it under her arm. She struck the flint with the dagger causing sparks to fly out towards the fuse. The fuse soon lit up,

"Partner above you!" her sword shouted. Looking up she found the orcs foot coming down on her. She jumped out of the just as the foot collided with the ground.

She could only stare wide-eyed at the orc in front of her, how did he know where she was?

"Ya fink 'dat cloak uv yer's masks yer spirit?"

She ran away once more, as the fuse burnt down. Sliding the arrow into place, she pulled back on the string. she decloaked as she took aim at its helmeted head.

"Partner you need to run away!" The blade shouted

She ignored him as she let go of the string. The arrow flew through the air sticking into the helmets mouthpiece before the firebomb went off in its face.

It let out a deep growl as it brought up an arm to block its eyes. She placed her bow on her back as she pulled Derf out into a reverse grip.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER.**_

She dashed forward, before throwing the blade. It impacted the beast, sticking into its leg, she raced forward, as the monster hollered in pain. Bringing up her boot she kicked the blade deeper.

Its screams grew louder as it fell forward, dropping its club in the process.

She looked over at the club, she had to end this now if she wanted to save that man. Walking over to the club, she gripped the large handle. Using all of her available strength she hefted it up to her shoulder. She could feel the energy draining from her suit as it attempted to increase her strength.

She grit her teeth as she looked at the orcs head. Reeling back the club, she let out a scream as she took a large step forward as she brought the club down on it. It descended with haste crushing the skull under its weight, the sickening crunch of bone filled her ears as blood began to pool around the head.

The orcs body fell limp, allowing Louise to let out a sigh of relief. Letting go of the club's handle she fell back, as a wave of fatigue overcame her. She became aware of how fast her heart was beating, as she gazed at the orc's body.

She enjoyed this small moment of respite but eventually got back up, hopefully, it would remain dead.

Walking over to the leg of the dead orc, she lifted it up, allowing her to see the hilt of her sword.

"You're washing me when we get back partner." He scolded.

She let out a small chuckle, as she worked her sword out of the orc's leg. She turned back finding several kegs floating through the air towards the knight, who was now surrounded by several barrels, the lost wand now returned to his hand.

She walked over to the man, confused as to what he was doing. "What are you Doing? We need to get out of here before the orcs wake up." As she approached she noticed he was shaking. "It's fine, the orcs are dealt with, there's nothing to be afraid of."

The man's breathing was uneven, he was fearful of something. "You need to get away." He told her in a broken voice. "Get back to the surface before he comes back."

Who was he talking about? It hit her. "The large orc?"

The man nodded his head. "my squad and I killed it four times with our magic, no matter how we did it he kept coming back. His body was even dragged off by the orcs as if they knew he was going to come back" The man paused as if trying to build up the confidence. "Which is why you must leave here, I'm going to collapse the cave with this black powder, trap this demon down here."

"That's suicide!"

The man simply nodded. "Yes, but as a knight of Tristian it is my duty to die for our kingdoms survival." The man looked away from her. "It. it was my leadership that got my squad killed." His voice wavered, "I must atone."

 _ **UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED**_

She turned back finding the large orc coming out from behind the throne. "Wot are ya 'umiez do'n wit' ma loot."

A hand gripped her shoulder. She turned finding the man looking straight at her. He reached out with another hand that held a locket pressing it into her hand. "We don't have much time. My family runs the Delon township east of Tristian, I beg of you, give this to them."

She accepted the locket with a nod. The loud rumble of the orcs footsteps echoed throughout the cave. "'oo said yer kould touch ma loot demon!" The orc shouted.

"Go!"

"The entrance is blocked!" She told him.

The man waved the wand in his hand, a sense of weightlessness overtook her, a voice screamed at her to save this man, to not let him through his life away. Reaching out she grabbed hold of the man as she began to ascend sending them both to the entrance of the cavern.

The pair landed next to a barrel.

The fatigue returned to her as she laid on the ground. Her muscles ached from the strain of battle.

"Partner you need to get up."

She awoke with a start. He was right, she had to move. Picking herself up, she ran over to where the man laid and quickly picked him up and carried him on her back.

Using the map her suit had made of the cave, she was easily able to navigate through the darkness as the cave fell around her.

She soon returned to the entrance of the cave, the rubble still blocking the entrance. "Pass me your wand."

The man did as he was told and handed her the wand. Grabbing it she quickly uttered the quickest incantation she could think of.

An explosion rocked the cave once more. The blockage was blown away. Hope filled the pair as Light poured into the room.

That hope soon vanished as she realized that there were three orcs standing on the other side of the rubble armed with axes and muskets.

"Pass me my wand, I'll take care of the orcs."

Gritting her teeth, She tossed the wand to the man who quickly aimed and fired a fireball, which took out a charging orc with ease.

"Partner!"

She let out a pained scream as a boulder fell on her, out of the corner of her eye she saw the man's arm go limp. she let go of him to catch the rock, the man didn't fall however as he was pinned to her by the rock.

A shot rang out throughout the cave, as pain once again filled her senses. She stumbled back from the force of the musket. She glanced down finding blood running down her chest.

How dare they. The fear, hopelessness and pain that had just consumed her faded, a fire ignited within her as rage built up.

How dare they shoot a Valliere. She became aware of the orc rushing her with its axe. She clenched the border with all of her strength and threw it at the orc, knocking it to the floor.

looking back she found the man she had been trying to save laying on the ground behind her. his helmet crushed by the bolder no doubt killing him.

How dare this filth attack them, how dare they kill a knight of Tristian. She Rushed forward towards it as it struggled with the boulder. Running up to it, she raised her foot before slamming it down on its head, crushing it.

She turned back to the orc that had shot her, as it just finished reloading its weapon.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

She dashed to the side as another shot rang out, grabbing the short barrel of the rifle, she punched the orc in the chest, shattering its ribs. The orc let out a pained gasp as it fell to the ground clenching its chest.

She turned to the last orc, ready to finish this when a bolder from overhead suddenly crushed it.

Her anger quickly faded as she realized the danger she was in.

She quickly turned to exit the cave, she needed to get out.

But as she attempted to flee the cave, a large bolder, suddenly crashed down on top of her causing her to fall to the ground in pain.

She could only watch as the light that she so desperately reached for was blocked as rocks filled her vision.

Her chest screamed in pain, as breathing became more and more difficult, she was suffocating. she didn't know how but she was.

She gasped for air but it didn't matter, nothing helped.

 _ **SWITCHING TO CORE FUNCTION MODE. LIFE SUPPORT PRIORITY.**_

Her vision faded she suffocated. "Looks like you really screwed the pooch this time pink." A faint Albionese voice that mocked her was the last thing she heard.

xXXXx

Louise let out a groan as her eyes fluttered open, instinctively her mask went up. She found herself in an unfamiliar bed, a towel placed underneath her. Gazing to her left, she found a small table which held a small pouch of what she assumed to be gold, as well as a strange locket.

"Well look who decided to wake up." The voice of Derf scolded.

Turning to her right she found Derf and her bow, propped up by the door to the room. She opened her mouth in order to speak with him, only for a pained groan to escape her lips.

"You were cutting it close their partner."

"Wha. What do you mean?"

"Crushed, hit with a giant club, shot. On all accounts you should be dead, it's a good thing that that suit of yours is a durable as you are stubborn."

She scowled at the blade. "I'm not stubborn."

"Well, at least your back to your old self."

She attempted to sit up as pain shot from her chest. She gritted her teeth as she pushed through it, the pain faded as she sat on the bed. Gazing around she found two more beds, one situated on the left wall by the door, a bookcase rested next to it, a bed on which a gambeson coat and the familiar staff that Tabitha always carried rested on.

To her right was another one, windows flanking it on both sides, she could see several pieces of armour laying on a towel next to the bed as well as an axe stabbed into its end table. One thing that both beds shared, however, was the small chests at the end of each bed.

At the other end of the room was a small cast iron wood stove, most likely to keep the room warm in the winter.

She threw her legs off the side of the bed and slowly stood up. Finding her legs to be weak she used the end table next to her to stabilize her. Her legs soon regained their strength, allowing her to let go of the table.

"Your friends told me to tell you that they're waiting for you downstairs." The told her.

She only nodded as she grabbed the coin pouch, tying it to her belt. She turned her gaze to the locket. She slowly picked it up, running her fingers over the beautiful silver locket. Memories as to how she got it slowly came back to her, the knight from Delon.

Was she really so close to death, crushed shot smashed, what would have happened if she and the knight had their places swapped. As her finger travelled over the metal, it opened, allowing her to see the small picture of him and his family.

Could she put her family through her death? Could she put her ailing sister through it?

She felt herself fall back onto the bed, what was she supposed to do, the rule of steel said to follow the orders of your superiors, but who should she listen too, the princess wants her help, but if she were to die could her family handle that?

The growl of her stomach broke her from her thoughts. She stood back up, she could think of this some other time, she needed to eat. She closed up the locket before opening the coin pouch and dropped it inside.

"You want to come Derf?"

The sword yawned. "Nah, I think I'll stay here and sleep."

She only shrugged, "suit yourself."

She left the room, finding herself in a slim hallway, doors lining both sides. To her right was a wall that held a torch, down at the other end of the hall was what looked to be the start of a staircase. Walking down the only path that seemed to go somewhere, she soon found herself at the top of a set of stairs. She could hear faint laughter from below her as well as smelling something delicious.

She slowly descended the staircase, soon finding herself in the entrance hall of the Water wraiths.

"Would you look who's finally up." The familiar voice of Kirche chuckled.

Turning towards the source of the voice, she found Kirche, and Tabitha sitting in a stall on the other side of the room while both of whom wore simple brown wool shirts. The table was sparse except for the presence of two bags of coins, and the book that Tabitha was reading.

She ignored the quip. "What's this?" She asked eyeing the bags.

Kirche looked back at the coins with a smile. "Me and Tabitha have a little wager going on right now. She thinks you killed more orcs then we did." She turned back to her. "So how many?"

"Directly or indirectly."

"Directly."

She began counting out the numbers in her head. "Twelve."

"God damn it, that sword was telling the truth then." She said with a sigh

Tabitha silently reached out and plucked the coin pouch from the table, not taking a single moment to look away from her book.

"Ah miss Louise you're up." Turning to the new voice, she found a smiling Aimee carrying a trey, with two steaming bowls of something that smelled delicious. "I was worried when they brought in your unconscious body." The girl walked by her, setting the trey down on the table. "Please have a seat, I'll be back with some more stew." The women quickly walked off into the back of the counter, leaving the group alone.

She turned back to the stall, finding that Tabitha had moved over allowing her to sit. She felt her mouth begin to water as she sat down, whatever this was it smelt extremely good. She gazed at the redheads taking note of whatever she was able to see was able to see in the brown liquid, it mainly consisted of carrots and cabbage but she could also see some type of meat.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts of stealing the food. "So, the bag of coin on my end table."

"Your cut, one hundred new gold." She told her with a full mouth.

She internally scowled at the lack of etiquette shown from the Germanian. "But the bounty was four hundred?"

"Amiee took twenty-five percent, as per the guild fee."

"What! She said she wouldn't take anything off of our first mission!" She shouted.

"Oh please, Louise." She pointed over to the overflowing bounty board with her spoon. "Look, we have plenty of opportunities to make money, and if we lose a bit so we still have access to this guild so be it."

She only grumbled in response.

"Oh before I forget." She reached under the tale, soon pulling out a letter. "This came for you." She grabbed from her hands and examined it, finding the royal seal on the letter. "I had wanted to look through it, but I think I prefer the life of a mercenary than the life of an enemy of the crown."

"Excuse me." She left the stall, walking over to the other side of the room before opening the letter.

 _Louise, I write this letter to ask you to come to the castle tomorrow at your earliest convince. There is a matter that interests both of us, but I cannot pursue it without your help. Show this letter to the guards and they will let you in._

 _However, you must be wary of Agnes, she seems hell-bent on trying to find you and will no doubt attempt to arrest you on sight for questioning. I will try my best to keep her busy throughout the day, but I can only do so much from where I currently am._

 _Henrietta._

She could only sigh as she folded up the paper. She was still seen as a fugitive even though she had saved her. This also meant that she couldn't take off her suit tonight as she would need to leave before anyone else woke up, the last thing she needed was Kirche questioning her as to where she was going.

"What does it say.!" Kirche shouted from the other side of the room.

"It says it's none of your business!"

"Boo."

Her face twisted into a scowl as she walked back over to the stall and sat down.

"To think you of all people would have friends in such high places."

Her scowl grew more intense. "I'm a Valliere, second most powerful family in Tristian, of course, I would have friends in the court."

"But it was a royal seal, not a court seal." She said with a sly smile, "Could it be that you're hiding a relationship with someone from the royal family."

"There are only the queen and the princes-" she ended that thought as the sly grin on her rival's face grew wider. "Ok, this conversation is over!" She shouted slamming her hands onto the table.

She shook her head, "Please Louise, I'm not judging, I think it's cute, the knight and her princess, both having to choose between happiness and their duty."

Her face heated up, there was no doubt that she was blushing. "Enough!"

She only shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Uh, am I interrupting something." Turning they found dumbfounded Aimee standing next to them, with a steaming bowl of stew in her hands.

"Well, you se-."

"No, you're not." Louise quickly told her cutting off Kirche.

She gazed between the two confused for a moment. "Well, here you go." The girl set the bowl down in front of her, much to her relief.

She quickly began to eat up the stew, finding the meat was pork of all things, but other than that it was delicious.

But as she ate, she felt something press itself into her lab. Looking down she saw the large emerald eyes of Kirche's familiar, gazing up at her. A soft noise escaped its lips before he licked it.

She could only scream.

xXXXx

 _ **Well, final chapter of the rewrite, now to get back to writing new chapters before school starts up again.**_

 _ **Now I did some calculations as to just how strong Louise is thanks to her suit.**_

 _ **Nowi must warn you that this is at best a somewhat accurate rant about just how insane the nanosuit and predator bow are and at worse, insane rambling with poor calculations, you can skip this if you want but, I just thought I'd warn you.**_

* * *

 ** _The muscle fibre that snakes around the suit is made out of carbon nanotubes. These act as the suits muscles, enhancing the strength of the person wearing it, stated in an article by peter watts author of the books Crysis legion he states_**

peter watts on carbon nanotubes said:

The most promising of these muscle analogs are built from carbon nanotubes;  
those babies can store elastic energies ten times as great as elastomers, 250 times as great as human muscle.  
Both your biceps could be replaced by a wire of the stuff only 8mm thick.

Think about that. An 8mm cord of artificial muscle with the lifting power of two human arms.  
Now look at all those corded bundles wrapped around the Nanosuit;  
the ability to kick a car across the boulevard doesn't seem quite so implausible, does it?

 _ **To add to this Peter watts is known for calculating his stuff so that it can be as accurate as possible. But, it could be stated that this is simply the strength of the nanotubes themselves and that it doesn't really affect the strength of the user. These people usually point to the Crysis 1 manual which states that the nanosuit doubles the strength of the user. Which doesn't really make sense with what you're able to do in that game.**_

 _ **Now the bow more specifically the heavy draw weight option. Now I've taken liberty with Louise being able to change draw weight on the fly, something that is simply impossible without the right tools in real life and even then it's a delicate process. Should I have made it more realistic? perhaps, but I find that allowing her to do this, I'm able to hammer home the combat style of the nanosuit, quickly adapting to any combat situation she finds herself in.**_

 _ **Now back on topic, in game when using the heavy draw weight, you see prophet struggle with to draw it, even with the suit, now were never told how much weight is behind that string, but from the way he struggles we can assume that this is pretty close to the limits on the suit's strength.**_

 _ **Now again we are never told how strong the nanosuit is but what people like to think is that it's around six thousand pounds of draw weight. But if what I said before is true, then we have an issue. as if what Peter watts say about the suit is true then it should be much more then six thousand.**_

 _ **For the sake of the argument, let's say that the bow is built for special forces. The draw weight would be somewhere around sixty to seventy pounds. now take that sixty and times it by two fifty and you get a draw weight of 15000 lbs which is simply insane.**_

 _ **but here lies the problem, the arrows. This all got me curious so I booted up Crysis 3 and found a spot where I could test arrow flight speeds and found that the arrows were flying at 130 meters a second. pretty good, not unheard of for arrows. But that changed when I plugged my data into an online calculator to try and figure out the speed at which her arrows would travel considering they are lighter then what is used in Crysis.**_

 _ **Now I'm not sure if I did it wrong, I hope I did because after plugging in all my numbers it gave me an FPS of 10355.91 or 3156.204 meters per second now this is a lot considering that the speed of sound is around 343 m/ps. WHICH WOULD DELIVER A FORCE OF 189270.85 NEWTONS A 50CAL SNIPER SHOT CARRIES ONLY AROUND A TWENTIETH OF THAT**_

 _ **every time Louise fires that bow she should be busting people's eardrums with just how fast the arrows are flying. on top of this, it was calculated at 6000 lbs**_ draw _ **weight. imagine if it calculated it at 15000.**_

 _ **So yeah, Uh, have a nice day and I hope you enjoy my rambling which may or may not get turned into an omake.**_


	15. Chapter 15: The Trip to Albion part 1

Louise found herself standing outside the gate of the castle for the third time in the past two days, the invitation held in an offhand as she gazed up at the castle.

The streets around her were empty save for the two guards that were stationed in front of her. The sun had only just risen.

She hadn't slept that much last night, after sleeping so much the night before after she had passed out, she simply didn't feel tired.

It also didn't help that Kirche challenged her to another drinking contest in hopes of finding her limit which didn't end until three in the morning when Kirche passed out on the table.

This forced her to carry the redhead up to their room as Tabitha had already gone to bed.

But there was something that she found odd, Tabitha was gone when she had woken up she had originally assumed that she had simply needed to go to the bathroom but her armour and staff were missing as well.

She shook herself from her thoughts, she didn't have time to wonder what the bluenette was up to, she had to speak with Henrietta.

Walking up to the guards, she presented the letter. They took a quick glance at the royal seal before letting her in.

She stood on the other side of the gate, taking in the beautiful site that was the castle courtyard. Gardeners on either side of the main road to the castle could be seen watering and trimming the various hedges the ran on either side of the road as well as the trees that followed a similar pattern.

It all came together to form five parallel lines that ran to the castles front door, where the road loops around a small circular garden full of the same blur iris flowers from when she was a kid.

It was truly a different sight compared to when she sneaked in two nights ago.

As she walked forward towards the door she found that the atmosphere was different as well. Everyone seemed to be at peace, the servants that tended to the garden had smiles on their face, as if everything was fine.

Had she hallucinated the entire night? Did the potion cause her to think the princess had been kidnapped or was this simply the suit's influence again?

She soon discarded all of those ideas, it simply didn't make any sense, the letter that she had received was proof enough of the events that transpired here a few days ago.

She pushed those question aside as she stopped and took a moment to enjoy the garden. A small smile formed on her face as memories of her time spent here came back to her.

From time to time she would steal flowers from the garden, nothing much only ever one at a time, each time she did her mother would scold her, telling her what happens to thieves if caught. But the flowers always ended up in a flower pot.

Her mind soon returned to the present as she realized that all the servants were staring at her, each one of them had an unnerving smile on their face that creeped her out.

Not wanting to stick around, she swiftly made her way to the castles doorway and quickly entered, finding herself in the same empty luxurious hallway from two days ago. Jumping up to the second floor like she had done before, she quickly made her way through the castle.

Hallway after hallway she found more servants all of which bared toothy smiles that unsettled her even more. What was going on?

She soon made it to the door to the princess room, finding that it had been repaired since the attack.

Slowing reaching out, she opened the door and entered. The room was dark, as the wide wall of windows were now boarded up. The room was bare of all furniture except for a single bed where what appeared to be an old maid sat staring at a single silver ribbon which rested in her hands.

"So, you're the one that her highness is supposed to meet with." She said not even taking a moment to look up at her.

Her mask came down as She placed a hand on her blade readying herself for combat. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

She glanced at her. "There's no need for that, I was instructed to sneak you into where the princess is being held."

"What happened to her? What's with the servants, why are they acting like that!" She shouted.

It was hard to tell in the darkness, but she was able to make out a shocked expression on the women's face. "That voice." She stood up and walked over to her.

She was a now able to make out the women's face, finding it covered in wrinkles. The women's tired brown eyes and messy short grey hair spoke of her restless nights she assumed she had been having.

"Louise? Is that you?"

The fog that clouded her mind suddenly vanished as she remembered her, the women before her was Henrietta's nanny, a kind-hearted woman that would supervise their time together. "Miss Clarisse?" She asked as her mask came up

Before she could react, she was squeezed in a hug that threatened to strangle her. "Oh Louise, it has been too long. Let me get a good look at you." She pulled back to arm's length keeping her hands on her shoulders. "You've certainly grown. You're a spitting image of your mother if I do say so myself."

She couldn't help but lightly blush at the complement. "Thanks."

"To think you were the one that saved the princess." She muttered.

"What was that?"

The women chuckled. "Nothing, just an old woman reliving distant memories." The women smiled at her once more. "Now, we have to get you to her Highness." She walked over to the closet on the other side of the room and quickly opened it.

She pulled out a two-layered cart with various pieces of food on top. The bottom layer was completely covered by an immaculate silk cloth.

"Wait, Clarisse, I have so many questions."

She let out a sigh. "You must be talking about the other servants?" She nodded. "That would be the queens doing, she's been slipping a drug of some kind into the servant's water supply."

"What how could she do such a thing."

"Image," she stated. "The King of Gallia is meeting with the queen and princess today to discuss something and she thought to have all of the servants grieving would send a weak message to the Gallian royalty." She let out another sigh. "I'm beginning to think that it was better when the queen would abstain from doing much."

She silently agreed with the women. "So, what's with the cart?" She asked as she walked over to it.

"It's how I'm going to get you to the princess."

"What do you mean?"

"Deep under the castle is a vault where the princess is being held."

She felt herself silently weep for her friend. "Founder, how do you about this?"

"I'm one of the few servants on the whitelist to serve her. Now if you would." She reached down and pulled away from the curtain revelling an empty shelf that looked just big enough to fit on.

"I doubt I would really need to use that I could probably get in by myself."

She let out another small chuckle. "Still as prideful as ever." A warm smile formed on her face. "You'll be disappointed to know that they only ever open the vault door when one of the whitelisted servants wishes to enter. And besides that, the bell that woke me up two nights ago begs to differ."

Embarrassment crept up onto her face as the women laughed once more. "T-t-t-that was simply a fluke. It wouldn't have been like that if I had found that think she used."

"It's fine, but breakfast is soon and we shouldn't keep her highness waiting."

Silently agreeing with the older women, she walked over to the cart and attempted to squeeze into the cart, only to find that her sword and bow wouldn't fit.

She quickly corrected this by taking her weapons off before once again squeezing into the cart.

She eventually found a way to sit, by holding her sword and bow in-between her legs while pressing them into her chest.

"You comfortable?" The older women asked.

"As one could be." She remarked.

The cart began to move, the sound of a door opening could be heard as light filled the cart. Not being able to see out of the cart irritated her, she hated the feeling of being blind but she begrudgingly pushed through it.

The cart shook as it rolled down what she could only assume to be the hallway. Greetings could be heard from several servants as the cart continued on its way. She attempted to look at her map to see if that would help her in any way but found that it was in the process of making itself and wouldn't be of any use.

Another door open as the cart rolled into the new room.

Curiosity eventually got the better of her.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Turning her head to the side in order to see forward she reached out and parted the silk curtain that obscured her view finding herself on the second floor of the royal library if the bookcases that surrounded her were any indication.

Confusion filled her, where were they going? The cart continued to roll forward through the wooden and paper forest that was the library but soon came to a stop in front of a glass door that led to a dark room of the library. In it were contained secret texts that were only to be seen by the highest members of the courts.

It was a place that she had only ever looked at from a distance as a child. Was she being held in here?

The women entered her field of vision as she pulled out a key from some unseen pocket and quickly opened the door.

The cart moved into the closed-off section of the library before stopping once again. The sound of the door closing could be heard before it moved once again.

She was in awe of just how large of a section this library was. She had seen the cardinal and king bring in large carts full of books but to see it in person was something else.

The cart once again stopped in front of a book case which once again confused her. Clarisse once again walked into her field of vision and seemed to fiddle with something on the bookcase.

It began to sink into the wall, before being pulled aside by some unseen force revelling what looked to be a metal door. Clarisse walked forward, pulling out what she could only assume to be a key and unlocked it before quickly pulling the doors back, revealing a small dark room whose only source of light was the bright blue floor.

The cart moved into the room, whose floor appeared to be unstable by the fact that it shook. She feared that it would collapse under her weight but quickly swallowed it.

She wondered why they came to a dead end, but the platform began to descend lower into the castle.

She let the curtain go as she deactivated her cloak, allowing her suit to recharge.

The platform soon came to a stop as unnatural light flowed through the curtains. The cart began to move once again running over a bump when it left the small room.

It came to a stop once again. The sound of several pairs of boots slowly approached the cart. "Hello, Agnes. You seem to be up early."

"Can it!" A feminine voice that commanded respect shouted. "I know that the servants have been sneaking letters out for the princess."

"Last I check the princess outranks you." Clarisse retorted.

A tense silence filled the air. "Ladies, check the cart." The sounds of boots drew closer before what appeared to be a hand grabbed the cloth.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

The curtain was pulled away, reviling the same blue-haired girl that she had assaulted two nights ago.

She looked around while Louise sat directly in front of her.

Sweat began to form on her brow as she attempted to shimmy away from the girl. her eyes suddenly darted to her legs. Had she noticed her?

She reached out towards her legs. Louise silently gulped, the sweat grew heavier and her body began to heat up. She was going to be seen.

The girl grabbed a previously unseen napkin before standing back up, letting the curtain fall back down.

As darkness returned to the cart she let out a small sigh of relief.

A chuckle could be heard from Clarisse "What? does the queen count napkins as contraband now?"

The silence added to the tense atmosphere that suffocated her. "Open the vault!" Agnes shouted. The loud sound of metal grinding on metal filled the room. "We didn't find anything on you, this time. Move along." She said her voice full of controlled anger.

The cart began to move once more, bumping as it crossed some kind of thresh hold.

The metal on metal grinding sound returned once again but grew quieter as the cart continued to roll away.

After several minutes it came to a stop as yet another door was opened before continuing on once more only to stop yet again a few seconds later. This pattern continued several times until it came to an abrupt stop.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Curious as to their location she activated her cloak, before reaching to her side and parting the cloth, finding a large bed before her in this dark room. Clarisse clapped as the room lit up, most likely from several magical torches.

She watched her walk over to the bed before leaning over it. "Princess it's time for you to wake up." She said warmly.

Her friend groaned as she slowly rose from the bed. "wha-" she attempted by was quickly cut off by a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Just after dawn your highness."

She chuckled. "Clarisse what have I said about calling me that when we're alone, you're practically a second mother to me."

"Well, we're not alone."

"Huh?"

Taking this as her cue, Louise attempted to get out of the cart, only to find that was stuck. She rocked the cart as she attempted to get out but it proved useless.

"What's that?" Henrietta asked.

She felt her face get hot as embarrassment washed over her. She had to get out of here.

"Well, I had to come up with a way to get her down here based on what you've told me."

"You don't mean-"

A sudden burst of power caused her to shoot upwards, ripping the top of the cart clean off of the brass poles that held it in place. All foodstuffs that sat on it slipped off the tray causing her to wince as they collided with the hardwood floor.

"Louise," Henrietta said with a smile.

She was too busy staring at the mess that she had just made to acknowledge the princess. Embarrassment filled her once again, she attempted to correct this by stepping off of the cart. Only for it to slide out from underneath her causing her to fall onto her face as the tray clattered away.

The princess doubled over in laughter as embarrassment ate at her. She thanked whatever gods watched over her that her mask was down when it had happened to save her from having to face her.

"Thanks, Louise, I needed that."

She turned to her confused seeing the princess sitting on the bed in her nightgown gazing down at her, a warm smile on her face.

She quickly picked herself up and dusted herself off before calling her mask up. "You had said that you wished to see me first in the morning."

She chuckled once more. "Yes well, I didn't think you would show up this early, and besides I think I should get dressed into something other than my nightgown before we talk about anything."

"Then I shall go get you two breakfast," Clarisse interjected before turning to Henrietta. "Shall I bring you some tea."

She seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. "Yes, please," she said with a smile.

Clarisse quickly cleaned up the mess and put the cart back together to the best of her abilities before walking off leaving the two girls alone.

"Louise if you would," Henrietta asked gesturing to the door

"Aren't there guards out there?"

She shook her head. "No, I kicked them out last night after they confined me down here, I even set upwards so that I know when they try and enter."

Accepting the odd answer, she quickly grabbed and refitted her weapons before leaving the room and entering a far darker one. Snapping her fingers, the fireplace and several torches lit up casting light on what was a sitting room of sorts. Three immaculate white couches were centred around a table in an open box layout that faced the fireplace which was flanked by two bookcases.

As she walked over to the couch nearest to sat down, she grew uneasy, something was off. She couldn't quite tell but something about the air was different down here, it had an odd taste about it that she just couldn't quite describe.

It she had to she would say it tasted... pure?

 _ **INITIATING ATMOSPHERIC SCAN, PLEASE WAIT.**_

 _ **SCAN COMPLETE. ATMOSPHERE MAKEUP, SEVENTY-FIVE-POINT-FIVE-THREE PERCENT NITROGEN, TWENTY-THREE-POINT-TWO-ONE PERCENT OXYGEN, POINT-THIRTY-TWO PERCENT ARGON, POINT-ZERO-ONE PERCENT CARBON DIOXIDE. NO DUST PARTICLES PRESENT, INDICATION OF AN ADVANCE FILTRATION AND VENTILATION SYSTEM.**_

Before she could even question the suit, the door behind her opened revealing the princess dressed in a simple white shirt and brown skirt. She found herself agape by this choice, she had never Henrietta had always been in some royal dress or another, but for her to wear something so plain.

"One of the few perks to being locked down here is that I don't have to always be ready to present myself to the public," Henretta said with a smile as she walked over and sat at a couch next to her.

So that was it. "Princess why are you down here, what is this place?"

Her gaze shifted to her feet as the smile ran away from her face. "Isn't it obvious, mother has gone off the deep end, she thinks that anyone is a potential traitor save for the few people she personally knows and that they are all attempting to kill or kidnap me. As for this place, this is the vault. Probably the most secure place in all of the Brimiric kingdoms. Designed by your mother after the last Germanian war."

"Mother built this?" she questioned.

Henrietta nodded. "And she spared no expense. Three feet of steel for the vault door, five-foot steel walls surround us, earth stones that repair and reinforce said walls. The air we breathe is from a wind stone a floor below us. It has its own well a library and massive food stores. The royal family could live comfortably down here for close to a year before they would die of starvation."

"But wouldn't that simply be waiting for death?"

She shook her head. "There's an underground river that runs all the way to lake Lagdorian. It's a long swim but for proficient water mages that our family is known for, it's not that hard. But just in case, there are places like this one built along the river where we can rest and potentially surface."

"Then why haven't you tried escape using it?"

Tears could be seen beginning to well up in the corners of Henrietta's eyes. "I-I really want to, you don't know how much I want to escape this place. Nothing down here is natural, the air, the light. I want nothing more they to leave this cage."

"Then why?"

"Because it's my duty!" The princess shouted shocking her. before freezing and quickly withdrawing on herself. "I'm sorry. I've been down here for only a day and I'm already like this."

Without saying a word, Louise stood up and walked over to her friend quickly wrapping her arms around her.

She looked shocked for a moment but quickly hugged her back. "I'm sorry for yelling, it's ju-"

"It's fine Henrietta. I can't begin to imagine what it's like to be locked down here like some prisoner. When I read your letter, I had assumed that the queen had done something to keep you safe, but to see her do this."

She let out a small chuckle as she pulled away from the hug. "It wasn't long after I sent that letter that they forced me down here. Although with you down here it's not so bad."

She felt her face heat up at the comment. "T-Thanks."

Thanks?" Henrietta questioned with a smile.

"I-I-I mean good, that's good to hear." She quickly corrected.

Henrietta laughed once again. "It's fine Louise, besides, I've come up with a plan to get me out of here."

"Does it have anything to do with me?"

She nodded. "Louise what I'm about to ask you is extremely dangerous, but I fear I have no other options."

"Anything princess, whatever you ask I will do." She blurted out.

She scowled but accepted the answer. "Mother will keep me down here until the people that attacked me are arrested, tried and executed. I have no doubt in my mind that they are a part of the rebel movement in Albion."

"Reconquista?"

"Yes. My plan is to bait them out of hiding with a famous destructive artifact that would give them a leg up against the royal forces."

Realization as to which artifact she was talking about hit her. "You, don't mean."

She only nodded. "The box of destruction."

"If they were to get their hands on it-"

"Which is why I'm entrusting you with this mission. You're the only one I can trust."

She lowered her head as a look of worry displayed itself. "I-I don't know if I'll be able to protect the artifact by myself."

A hand was placed on her shoulder. "Which is why you won't be alone, King Joseph is sending along a knight of his own, and you will have the Captain of the griffin knights to accompany you."

"You don't mean-"

"Yep. Viscount Wardes. You're fiancé."

Her face heated up once more. "P-p-princess, why involve him!" She shouted.

The princess waved off the anger. "Please Louise, both you and I are getting close to the age where we're supposed to marry and it's good to know the person you're going to be waking up next to for the rest of your life. Tell me when was the last time you spent any time with the viscount."

Her gaze turned towards her feet as she recalled the last time she had seen him. "It was ten years ago when my parents set up the marriage."

"See, this will be good for you then."

"Yes, because there's nothing that really strength one's love for each other like walking into an ambush." She remarked under her breath.

"Well, it worked for your mother and father, and his parents for that. Perhaps it's how the Valliere's are able to maintain disciplined?"

She hated to admit it but she was right. She was a year away from her marriage and she hadn't even seen the viscount in ten years. Would he even be the same kind man that he was ten years ago? Would she even like him now? "Could we get back to the plan please?"

She chuckled. "Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Well, all you've really told me is that I would be moving the box of destruction, but you never said where."

"Oh. Excuse me for a moment." She told her before getting up and walked into her room.

Louise sat there confused for a moment before she returned a piece of paper in hand, she handed it to her before sitting down beside her.

"Go on read it."

She looked down skeptically at the piece of paper and began to read it. "Madam, I have written this letter to ask that the box of destruction be placed in my care, to be used in order to better protect the quarantine from the Reconquista threat. I believe that it's time of use is upon us and I urge you to give me the privilege in using it to wipe out our enemies. Duchess de La Valliere, Karin." at the bottom of the page was her signature that she had seen so many times before.

"So, what do you think?"

She turned to her friend confused. "My mother wrote that?"

A large grin formed on her face. "So it does look authentic."

"Wait, that's a fake?"

She nodded as the grin grew wider. "Yes, this is how we're going to get the box of destruction into your hands."

"How?"

"We give this to the queen, she agrees to the transfer. I select you and Wardes while Joseph sends his knight to complete the transfer Simple as that."

"Who else knows about the fake letter?"

"Other than you, Clarisse, no one else."

"And you're sure that the queen will fall for this."

"She's paranoid, but her loyalties are as strong as ever she will give her the box."

"And what happens if this queen character refuses to give her the box of the destruction?" Louise's sword pipped up.

"Derf!" Louise shouted.

"What It's a valid question."

"Who's this Louise?" Henrietta questioned staring at the blade on her hip.

She quickly turned to face the princess "Ah, This I-"

"The name's Lord Derflinger. Partner to the suited pink haired, ball of fun."

She scowled at her blade who slinked back into its sheath. "I hate to say it, but he does have a point, what happens if she doesn't believe the letter." She asked as she turned back to her.

"Then we would have to steal it."

"What!"

"I've already told Joseph about the plan remember, he expects that we'll be transporting an object to the Tristian command ship."

"So, looks like we'll be committing treason."

"Louise trust me, Mother won't have power for long, the court and the cardinal are already losing faith, it's only a matter of time before they evict her from power."

Before Louise could answer, a door on the other side of the room opened revelling Clarisse pushing another cart of food. "Your highness I'm happy to say that she has bought the letter, and has already called a meeting with the viscount and the king of Gallia to discuss the specifics of the voyage which will be held in an hour."

"An hour?" Louise questioned. "The sun has just risen."

Henrietta let out a small sigh. "Joseph for whatever reason holds all of his meetings before ten. I don't quite understand why, but he's not called the mad king for nothing. Shall we go to the dining room for breakfast?" She asked as she stood up.

"Wait, princess, how am I supposed to get into the meeting, if I'm seen as a threat."

She paused for a moment. "Louise, what do you know about being intimidating."

xXXXx

Breakfast passed quickly, with the pair of girls eating plain oatmeal with a side of bread, a bland meal in Louise's eyes and definitely not one fit for the princess but Clarisse stated that most of the expensive meat was being moved to the new guards in order to aid in building up their strength.

After Clarisse had finished cleaning up she left as the princess got dressed up for the meeting, Louise had wanted to help, but after ripping one of her dresses on accident, she confined herself to the sitting room.

Currently, the pair stood in the large dark entrance hall of the vault. In front of them here four golems that took up most of the room, attached to them were several large chains that connected to the vault door.

"So, do you know what you have to do Louise?" The princess asked.

"I have to act intimidating, I know. But I'm not sure if I'm able to, I can fight but to intimidate someone?" she turned towards her. "Look at me, I'm barely five-feet-tall, who would be intimidated by me?"

Henrietta turned to face her. "I understand that Louise, but we need to get to the wind stone shaft. If they attack you, you have my permission to rough them up a little, just don't go overboard." She nodded before the pair turned back to the golems. "Open."

The golems response was slow. The sentient rocks slowly began to move forward, opening the large metal door that screeched in response.

Light poured into the room as the door opened wider, three silhouettes stood in front of her there faces obscured by the shadows, there was no doubt in her mind that these people were the guards that had almost discovered her before.

Henrietta attempted to speak to them but it was no use, the middle silhouette had already reached for a pistol on her hip.

Louise saw this and quickly dashed forward, reaching her in a single step.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Grabbing hold of the pistol's barrel she crushed it under her strength before placing an arm on her neck and slamming her onto a nearby wall causing the blonde girl in front of her to let out a short grunt in pain.

"I wouldn't pull the trigger if I was you. I was never the best at alchemy but one thing that I did learn early was that lighting explosive powder in an enclosed environment usually leads to an explosion." The blonde short haired women struggled in her grip.

"You seem to forget that it's three on one." The women gritted out.

Louise looked back finding two muskets pointed at her back. She moved her index finger to the pistol's trigger before leaning in close. "They can shoot, but then I'll just blow your hand off myself."

"Everyone, stand down!" The voice of the princess commanded.

Looking back once more she found the guards slowly lowering their weapons. Following their example, she pulled away from the women who quickly brought a free hand up to her neck and gently rubbed it. "Princess we were told to bring you up to the meeting, but this. thing is wanted by the queen for questioning." The blonde hair women told her.

"I thank you for your input, but frankly I don't care, she is my new security detail and will accompany me to the meeting." the princess walked with a brisk pace to the wind stone shaft. "Come along Louise."

Doing as she was told she quickly walked over and stood next to the princess. "Princess you know that's not possible, without my key you can't unlock the hidden door."

Henrietta only grinned as she raised a hand that held a key. The blonde-haired women quickly looked down on her hip, finding the key missing. "Princess wait!" The platform quickly ascended as the trio of guards left the pair's view.

"Well, seems like you're a natural at this. Where did you learn to talk like that?" Henrietta complemented.

Louise raised her mask before turning to the princess, looking at her with a worried expression. "I didn't, it sort of just came out."

Henrietta only smiled easing her. "Well, it worked out for the best. thanks to your distraction I was able to swipe the key from Agnes."

She could only stare at her in shock. "What? What would have happened if I didn't distract them."

"Well, I highly doubt that would have happened, considering how much of a hot head Agnes is, but I would have politely asked for the key."

"And if that didn't work?"

"We would have had to fight them."

Louise couldn't help but pale at that response, she had to question who was the worse planer between the two.

"I can see why you hang out together." Her sword chuckled before she slammed it back into his sheath.

The platform soon came to a stop at the same metal door as before. Henrietta pushed a small insubstantial button that was on the wall by the door before walked forward and unlocking it. Pushing it open the pair entered the dark library.

They walked through the sectioned off part of the library before eventually coming to the door that led to the rest of the library. Henrietta walked forward and attempted to unlock it, only to find that the key didn't fit. "Oh no."

Louise could see sweat form on the Princess brow as she attempted to jam the key, doing everything in her power to get the door open. "What's wrong."

"This key won't fit." Henrietta pulled away from the door turning towards the bookcase that they had come from. "I should have known that it wouldn't have been the same key."

"Can't you use magic to rust the lock or something?"

"It's been magically reinforced, magic would do as much as throwing snow at it."

Louise's stood in silence as her mind raced to create a plan. "Cast a silence spell."

"What?"

"Trust me."

She looked skeptical but soon did as she was told, quickly pulling out her wand and casting a spell silence.

Louise looked to a small window by the door handle as her mind was made up.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Walking forward she punched through the glass before grabbing hold of the handle on the other side. Pulling with all her might the latch soon gave way as the door flew open.

Pulling her hand from the window, she opened the door completely gesturing for the princess to enter.

She did so while laughing. "You know you could have just pulled the hinges off, now we need to fix the whole door frame."

She gazed at the hinges before letting out a sigh. "Can we just get to the meeting?"

Henrietta smiled at her. "Right, let's get going."

The pair briskly walked through the castle, eventually finding themselves at the large double doors of the conference room. "This is where we part ways, Louise."

"What?"

Henrietta turned to face her. "No offence, but you would simply hamper the meeting."

"I. Understand Henrietta. Where do you suggest I wait?"

"Here is fine. I'll try to make this meeting as short as possible."

She agreed before the princess entered the room, leaving Louise alone in the hall.

Turning away she found a person who she hadn't notice before sitting on a bench. Whoever they were wearing a cloak that hid their features, but they were small even tinier than her.

Sighing she walked over and sat down next to the figure, silently praying that Henrietta would be quick with the discussion.

xXXXx

It was an hour before the door to the conference room opened. Henretta walked out, flanked by a blue haired man, clad in an elegant blue and white robe that covered most of his body.

But the sight of the other individual caused her breath to hitch in her throat. It was Viscount Wardes. Her fiancé, dressed in blue pants and coat that matched the blue cape that was draped across his back. On his hip was a swordwand.

She couldn't help but look away as nervousness took hold of her. "So, this is the knight that you suggested? I don't see a wand?"

"She lost it not that long ago, with the quarantine up it is hard to get ahold of a new one," Henrietta told the blue haired man.

"Is that my Louise?" A voice asked her.

Turning she found her fiancé kneeling in front of her, a small smile on his face. She knew that this was coming, but to actually face him. That was something else.

She felt a hand grab her wrist, quickly pulling her to her feet. Before she could react an arm quickly scooped up her legs. In a single moment, she found herself being carried by the Viscount causing her face to heat up even more. "Even under all that armour, you are still my dainty Louise." He said with a warm smile.

She felt as if her face was about to ignite with how hot she was feeling. As if answering her call for help, her suits mask came down, hiding her tomato coloured face from the group as she struggled in the man's grip.

He let her go as he chuckled. "Glad to see that you haven't changed much in the ten years since we last met my Louise."

"We should focus on the mission at hand." She stated trying to distract from the embarrassment that filled her.

"Much like your mother, you put the mission first." He said his smile not wavering. "But you are right." Snapping his fingers, four servants came out of the conference room each of them holding a handle attached to a large box.

Wardes turned and walked over to it. "Obviously we'll have to carry it to La Rochelle, but it weighs quite a bit."

Louise walked over to the box as Wardes opened it allowing her to see it for herself. It was a metal rectangle with a small pyramid at the end of it. There were various buttons that lined the top of, but what really caught her attention was the writing on it.

MMO-56-88-429

NATO

CAL-50 SWARMER

US ARMY AIRFORCE.

The word swarmer was written in multiple places, causing her to wonder if this was the actual name of the artifact.

Reaching down she hefted the artifact out of the box as information on how to use the weapon flowed into her mind.

Reaching to the front of the box with her left hand, she pulled out a handle that was pressed into it. reaching to the back, she grabbed another handle, this one had a button on the top which she rested her thumb on.

In the bottom right corner of her vision was a white silhouette of the weapons, beneath it was the numbers 56/0.

A cylinder popped out of the top of the front of the box that began to slowly spin. Reality came back to her as she realized how silent everyone was being. Looking around she found that everyone was staring at her with a mix of concern and awe.

"Louise, you got it working?" Henrietta said in awe.

Wardes only chuckled and walked towards her, wrapping an arm around her. "Seems like my fiancé has some hidden talent with magical artifacts. Now we have a two-day ride to the port, so we should get to the horses as soon as possible."

She looked up at the man confused. "Horses? Are we not taking your griffin?"

His grip tightened on her shoulder. "She... Died, a week or so ago got caught in a storm while patrolling Tristian and ended up crashing. I... had to put her down."

"I'm, sorry. I didn't know." She quickly apologized.

"It's fine, you couldn't have known." He turned back to Henrietta. "I assume that the horses are ready?"

She nodded. "Yes, everything has been prepared for your trip."

"Then we should get going then," Wardes told the group.

Louise couldn't agree more. Pushing both handles back into the box she held it to her back the suit quickly sticking it to her.

"Now that we've figured out how we'll carry it we should get going," Wardes told the royalty in front of him.

"Then I shall wait for your return," Henrietta said with a smile.

"And I will wish you luck with your mission." The blue haired man told the trio.

The trio left the castle, finding horses set up for them on the main road that left the courtyard. Each one was packed with various items, that included food, bedrolls, wood, and rope. Each horse had more specialized items for each of them. Her horse had a quiver full of arrows on its side, Wardes horse had several sheaths with sword wands and the stranger's horse had Tabitha's staff.

Louise quickly turned to the cloaked stranger and tore the hood off, revealing the very disinterested Tabitha.

"Tabitha, what are you doing here?"

"Mission." She plainly stated.

"You know this girl Louise?" Wardes asked as he mounted his horse.

"She's a classmate of mine."

"Well, seems like team cohesion won't be an issue. Let's get going."

Listening to him, the pair mounted their horses, before leaving the castle. Louise couldn't help but feel guilty at the fact that she had only done a single job for Aimee before leaving. She could only hope to finish this as fast as possible to help the struggling girl.

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Well first new chapter in a few weeks so I hope that it meets the expectations of your's**_

 ** _Let me know what you think and what I should improve in the reviews. I try and listen to everyone._**


	16. Chapter 16: The trip to Albion part 2

_**So I just want to say before you start this chapter thank you, to everyone who has read and supported this story so far as we have just passed 100k words, something I didn't think I would ever do. But as we pass the five-month mark I can't help but feel amazed that I had made it this far. I do hope you forgive me for the small delay I hope the chapter's size makes up for it.**_

 _ **Anyways, I don't want to take up to much time, so I just hope you enjoy the longest chapter of this story yet.**_

xXXXx

Pain, that was the first thing that Kirche felt as she regained consciousness causing her to let out a low groan that broke the silence that blanketed the Water Wraiths barracks as she brought a hand up to her head to rub her temples. It felt as if she had been run over by several lines of cavalry before being tossed off a cliff head first.

Opening her eyes only amplified the throbbing pain in her head. She was hungover. What had she done last night? It had been such a long time since she had felt this way, normally she could handle almost any drink thanks to whatever her parents did to her when she was a child, but the nail being hammered in her head currently was proof that she had passed her limit.

She soon became aware of the wet feeling coming from her chest as a new abhorrent smell filled her nose causing her to gag in disgust. Fearing the worst, she threw her head over the side of the bed, finding a bucket conveniently placed at her bedside beside her boots. Reaching out she quickly grabbed it and pulled it towards her as bile rose up from her gut.

Her grip on the edge of the bed tightened as she waited for the vomit that she was sure was coming. But it never did. The bile soon retreated back into her gut as the wave of nausea passed.

Tossing herself back onto her bed she went back to massaging her aching head this time choosing to breathe through her incredibly dry mouth. She knew that smell, it was a fairly common smell that covered her old mercenary barracks the day after any large victory.

Glancing down at her body she found that she wasn't under the blanket and that her chest covered in vomit that most likely belonging to her. Her head fell back onto her pillow as she sighed. This was what she got for pushing herself. But she still wondered what had happened last night, she knew she had to have been drinking in the entrance hall, she had just completed her first mission in close to half a year it was a given that she was going to live it up but what caused her to go all out?

Groaning she pushed herself up to a sitting position as sharp throbbing pain filled her head. The pain soon dulled allowing her to look around. She found the room empty, no sign of Louise and Tabitha but that was to be expected, Tabitha was always up early, same with Louise but the fact that their weapons were gone was cause for concern.

Pushing the concern aside she turned towards her end table, finding her axe, a small glass potion and a glass of water, remains of ice could be seen floating in it, the condensation that covered the glass indicated that it had been a while since it had been placed there. She couldn't help but smile through the headache, Tabitha was always looking out for her, perhaps this was her trying to pay her back for buying her armour.

The sudden sound of a horse neighing filled her ears, causing her headache to worsen. Pushing through it, she quickly reached out and grabbed the small bottle. Twisting the glass top open, she quickly downed the bitter contents, before falling back to the bed her arms spread out.

The headache dulled until the nail being hammered into her head was a simple throbbing in the back of her head. She laid in bed until the headache was simply a memory. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked but thanked the gods that nobles liked to party enough to create potions such as this.

Moving her legs off of the bed, she sat up as she planted them on the ground before looking down at her sullied shirt, she had to get rid of it, it reeked of that acidic bile smell that emanated from puke. Raising her hands to her collar, she slowly pulled off her disgusting shirt, making sure to keep the vomit as far away from her face as possible.

She was relieved though as she could have easily ended up choking on her own vomit. She could only how much of a terrible joke that would be. Kirche the ardent, she spent her adult years fighting wards orcs bandits and everything in-between. She died from choking on her own puke after spending a night of drinking.

With her torso now bare, she quickly wrapped up the shirt into a ball using the arms to tie it off. Standing up she cautiously walked over to the furnace by the bare wall. Crouching down, she grabbed hold of the iron handle on its front turning and opened the door before tossing in the shirt only to realize that she had forgotten her axe.

She let out a small groan. "Flame." She Called. in an instant, her fire salamander rushed out from under the bed heeding its master's call. She simply pointed at her shirt. Suddenly Fire shot from her familiar's mouth covering the shirt in flames. She watched as the wool shirt burned up, the flames dancing across the fabric consuming it all in a mesmerizing display of hunger. And then smell hit her.

She pulled her hand from the door and brought it up to her nose with haste blocking the smell from her nose. Using her elbow, she slammed the door shut before backing away. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who thought that it smelt terrible as her familiar swiftly scurried back underneath her bed as fast as it could.

Sighing she turned to the chest at the end of her bed, other than the padded coat she wore under her armour and that low-cut red dress she used to fleece money from the fools that filled this town, it was the only one she owned.

Walking over to it, she crouched down. But as she reached out to open it, she realized that her hand was on fire. Startled she fell back landing on the floor with a thud. A disadvantage to her arms being fireproof is that she had lost all sense of heat in them, causing things like this to happen.

Standing up she dashed over to the bedside table where the glass of water laid. Grabbing it, she poured it over her hand snuffing out the flames before drinking the rest of it. The last thing she wanted to do was to burn up the only thing that made wearing her suit of armour bearable for long periods of time.

Walking back to the chest, she pulled out her blue padded coat. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it sure beat scratchy Germanian mountain goat shirts that she was forced to wear when she first escaped from her parent's estate.

She gazed at the coat in her hand, she really should talk to that guild girl about bathing, she didn't doubt that the capital of the kingdom of water had public bathhouses, but she didn't doubt that they would be extremely strict compared to her home country. And honestly, she would've liked a bit of privacy. Sure, male attention was good and all, but this was Tristian, none of the men here could compared to the ones back in Germania they were small. She doubted they could survive a single year in Germania.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she slid her arms in before pulling it over her chest. Her fingers danced up the coat as she tied the two halves together, forming a protective layered shell that surrounded her upper body. Running on pure muscle memory she reached down and pulled out her armour, only to stop herself.

Putting the armour back in the chest, she closed it before standing back up. She rolled her arms as she began her morning stretches. Next, she rolled her head getting rid of any stiffness in her neck before working on her ankles if there was one place you didn't want to pull a muscle the ankle was that place.

After making sure that every part of her body was ready for the day she put on her boots and left the room. The narrow hallway was dimly lit by the single foggy window next to their room.

She Walked through the hall at a brisk pace only to stop as the sound of bottles banging together filled the hallway, as she approached the stairs. She cautiously descended the stairs, worried as to what she would find. That worry was indeed well founded as she found bottles of wine covering at least three tables as a peeved Aimee struggled with two bags that was no doubt filled with more.

She had crossed the line. No that wasn't right, she hadn't simply crossed it, she had blown right past it on a wind dragon in a Jetstream. This was bad even for her what had caused her to drink to this extent?

Aimee seemed to have noticed her, as she lowered the bags to the ground before letting them go, the exertion on her face nearly instantly vanished. "Oh, Miss Zerbst." She said in-between heavy breaths. "I figured you dead after I awoke to this mess." She looked back at the mess as she scratched the back of her head. "Honestly you could probably kill a bull with all this, but for you and Miss Louise to have consumed it all without falling into a coma or worst."

Her eye's widened at the last sentence what did the Valliere girl have to do with anything unless. "Did you say Louise?"

She turned back to the mage and gave her a small nod. "Before I went to bed you two were having a drinking contest, saying something about finishing what you had started, and when I woke up the wine cellar was empty and bottles were scattered everywhere."

She felt sick, this was even worse than she thought, the line that she had crossed wasn't even in sight anymore. She turned away from the girl refusing to look her in the eye. "Oh." Although she should have seen this coming after ending the last contest in a draw than being given an ample supply of local brews, it was a recipe for disaster and this was the outcome.

"Which is why I'm barring you two from the cellar, you'll have to buy it yourself now." She stretched before reaching down and picking up the bags. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to get this place cleaned up in case anyone else decides to show up."

"Wait before you go, have you seen Louise or Tabitha?" She asked.

She once again lowered the bags to answer. "Not Louise, but I did see that tiny blue haired girl leave this morning an hour or so before sunrise."

"Did she say anything?"

"She said something about a mission, but she didn't take a job off the board, so I'm not entirely sure what she was talking about." The girl told her as she picked up the bags of bottles before leaving for the kitchen.

Kirche internally groaned, they were supposed to be a team yet here they were leaving her alone, as their leader they should inform her of where they were going. Turning she ascended the stairs and returned to her room with slumped shoulders.

Opening the door to the room she found flame eager to see her as if it had sensed its master's anguish. She ignored it, instead walking over to her bed where she sat. She let her head slump backwards, her eyes staring at the wood above her as she fell back onto the bed. What were those two doing, both of them leaving early in the morning and saying nothing to her, not even a note. Unless.

She instantly shot upright as less than modest thoughts filled her mind. Could it be that they are together? And they didn't tell her? This was unacceptable, she knew her way around the heart better then both of them combined. Why wouldn't they reveal their relationship to her. She had to find them. But how.

As if on command her lizard laid down in front of her watching her think to herself with its large emerald eyes. That was it. Standing up, she walked over to Tabitha's bed as she prayed that the familiar bond worked the way she was taught. Reaching the blunette's bed she turned. "Flame, I need you to do something." it tilted it's head in response as if trying to comprehend what it was being told. "I need you to follow the scent that's on this bed."

Working to the best of its abilities, it walked over to the bed before climbing up onto it. The giant red lizard walked around as its eyes scanned the piece of furniture. It slowly lowered its head as the tip of its tongue stuck out of its mouth before quickly retreating. It did this several times be raising its head. It once again scanned its environment its tongue going in and out of its mouth.

In a sudden moment, it leapt from the bed, before running up to the closed door. It turned back to look at its master with the closest thing to puppy eye's the large lizard could muster as it seemed to jog in place. it had got the scent.

A smile formed on Kirche's face as she walked over to the chest and pulled out a traveller's bag. She didn't know how far away they were or where they were heading, but considering that they left early in the morning seemed to indicate that they would travel somewhere.

She packed her red dress, just in case the pair travelled to a city before grabbing more essential items such as rope, flint, a local map of Tristian, a dagger and her coin pouch. With the bag packed with pretty much everything she owned, she tossed it onto the bed and quickly put on her suit of armour. Walking over to her end table she grabbed hold of her hatchet and slipped it into her belt without much effort.

Grabbing her bag, she flung it over her shoulder before turning and quickly dashing to the door where her loyal Familiar waited restlessly for its master. However, as she grabbed hold of the door, she couldn't help but feel her stomach grumble.

Hopefully, the local baker wouldn't be too crowded this time of day. Opening the door was like pulling the trigger on a loaded musket, if the ball was a long red lizard with emerald eyes, as after a single moment flame had already begun to tumble down the stairs.

Chuckling to herself, she quickly followed the large lizard.

xXXXx

The light of the world began to dim as night soon approached. The singing of birds had been joined by the soft hum of crickets and frogs. They had just crossed over into Gallia and we're still a half day's travel to port. If not for the fact that the only port in Tristian closed down when their fleet was moved to an easier access point for the quarantine, they could have already been in the air.

"We'll stop here for the night," Wardes called out to the rest of the group. Louise and Tabitha did as they were told and slowed to a stop, Louise took this small opportunity to examine their campsite. It consisted of two parts, on the right side of the road was a small clearing where one would be able to set up tents and a fire for the night. It seemed to be a rather popular spot as in the center of the clearing there was a small grassless dip in the ground which was most likely used as a fire pit.

On the left side of the road was a hill that led down to a small beach for an equally small stream that followed the road, giving the entire area a nice relaxed atmosphere. By the water was a long hitching post, most likely designed to allow the horse to drink as its owners slept.

Leaning forward, Louise gently rubbed and patted the horse's neck silently wishing that she could feel the tough hair of the animal as she trotted over to the hitching post. She felt a pang of guilt for the animals as they had been pushing them for the better part of a day. In response it shook its head as it let out a small deep grumble from the back of its throat, causing its long brown mane to flop onto her metallic hand.

A smile formed on her face as memories of the few times her sickly elder sister was able to leave the house. Every single time she would end up at the stables taking care of the various horses in their care. She had taught her all about taking care of animals, and how she should always treat them with respect.

"It's nice to see that you're still the kind-hearted girl." The voice of Wardes told her from out of sight.

She twisted her body in order to see her fiancé. A large warm smile that could comfort the coldest of bodies covered his face. He walked over to the hitching post and quickly tied up his horse before doing the same to hers. He soon walked back to her side before offering a single hand to her.

"Did you think I would have changed?" She asked accepting the hand.

He gently and gracefully pulled her off of the horse, setting her down beside her. "It's just that it's been over a decade since we last saw each other." sauntering over to the back of her horse, he reached up and pulled the bedroll off, sticking it under his arm before turning back to her. "I had assumed that you had changed into something else, something other than the tiny girl with a heart too big for the world. That suit of armour of yours hadn't helped that image."

She couldn't help but chuckle at similarities between them, but his eyes showed clearly that he was curious as to what she was laughing about. "It's just that I felt the same way, I had assumed that you wouldn't be that kind-hearted man that cared for me when I was young." Her gaze shifted to her feet. "I'm glad." her face turned red with embarrassment as her mind caught up with what she had just said.

She could hear the sound of his footsteps coming closer, but she didn't dare turn back in fear of him seeing just how much of a tomato she had become. A sudden hand on her shoulder caused her heart to flutter for a moment. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he told her in a smooth calming voice, that slowed her heart down to a normal speed.

She looked back at the man finding the same warm smile as before. Her chest tightened up, it felt as if someone had just placed a boulder on top of her as her heartbeat increased more than before. Even her suit that had kept her body comfortable throughout the two weeks that she had it, failed to cool her body.

She pulled away from the man attempting to hide her red face and quickly ran over to the beach. She needed to cool off. The sand crunched beneath her boots as she made it to the stream. Falling to her knees she planted her head in the cool water in an attempt to subdue the heat.

"Louise?"

The water didn't help. If anything, it seemed to have made it worse as she was now holding her breath meaning that she could no longer vent heat from her mouth. Her head burst from the water splashing the area around her. In a quick moment, she dashed by her future husband who seemed bewildered by her speed and quickly grabbed everything off of her horse pausing as she realized that her bedroll was missing.

"Are you looking for this?" Turning she found Wardes gazing at her with an amused calm smile, her bedroll in his hands. Her gaze shifted to her feet as she inched towards the man. She felt as if she was going to die from embarrassment, what was this? This stuffiness, this constraining feeling that suffocated her.

She pushed those thoughts aside as she grabbed the bedroll and stuck it under her arm. Walking up the hill she found that Tabitha had already started a fire and had her bedroll set up, she was already eating her ration of bread by her horse which seemed content in grazing beside the small girl.

Louise began to walk over to her. "Well, seems like you already have someone partner, and here I was hoping you would get together with the princess like one of my older partners."

Her face grew hot once again, was this what it was going to be the entire time. "Shut up!" She bellowed in rage before slamming the sword back into his sheath with a loud clank, startling several hidden flocks of birds as the sound reverberated across the valley.

"Fine be that way I'm going back to sleep."

Quickly composing herself, she walked up beside her, placing her supplies on the ground. Untying the strings that held the bedroll together, she rolled it out and quickly patted the roll down. Why was she feeling this way, why was she acting this way? She hadn't seen him in ten years so why was her body acting like this. Was this love?

She pushed those feelings aside and quickly turned and sat down, facing the fire. Her gaze fixated on the still flames, as the valley around her darkened. Letting out a small sigh, she reached over her shoulder and grabbed hold of the "Swarmer" with both hands. Slowly she brought it over her head, before resting the heavy metal box in her lap.

She couldn't help but feel surprised at just how easy it was to move around. Four adult men were needed to transport this box, and here she was moving it with ease by herself. She noticed a small bit a dirt that marred the almost reflective surface of the box. Reaching out with her thumb she wiped the dirt off of it.

She couldn't help but feel confused by the box in front of her. It was obviously powerful if the name box of destruction was anything to go by, but the way it looked and felt weird. It wasn't like the demonic rifle that she had used before, this looked as if it could have been made by humans. It wasn't made out of the blue metal that the demonic rifle was made out of. But it none the less looked odd. Perhaps it was elven and used the spirits power to cause destruction. But then why could she use it.

Her gaze shifted to her suit. Unless her suit was elven in origin, but that didn't make any sense, if the legends surrounding this artifact are true, a human used it to stop a dragon before dying. And what about what her suit, it seemed that it used some sort of ammo for it, last she checked spirits didn't require ammunition.

Placing the box to her side, she reached over to her ration bag and dragged it over to her. Untying the knot sealed the bag shut, she opened it. It wasn't anything special bread and meat. However, the meat looked extremely unappetizing due to the fact it looked like a floppy sole of a shoe. It wasn't like what she had eaten on the way to the water spirit, which looked as if it was cured and made that day. This looked as if it had sat in a storage box for several weeks.

Why couldn't she have gotten them better slices of meat. Perhaps if she were to cook it over the fire it would taste somewhat better but how. She scratched her chin as she looked around for something that would be able to hold up her food. They were in the woods so she could always use a stick, but then again, the meat looked as tough as a rock.

Her gaze slowly shifted to her hip where Derf rested. As part of an idea formed. The gaze shifted to the bag of wood her horse had carried. She licked her lips as the idea formed. Putting the meat back into the bag, she grabbed two logs and placed them on either side of the fire. She slowly reached down and grabbed a hold of him and pulled him out but soon hesitated. Was this ok, he was alive, at least on some level and he could feel pain.

No, she couldn't do it, it wasn't just wrong but cruel. Still, that idea would be good. She turned away from the fire finding the two horses by the hitching post. Standing up once more, she undid her belt and planted her sheath into the ground next to her bedroll. "Tabitha, you want me to tie up your horse?"

She simply nodded as she continued to chew at the bread in her hands.

Walking over, she grabbed hold of the horse's rains and briskly crossed the road, but as she walked towards the hitching post, she noticed something odd, Wardes was nowhere to be seen. She looked around the beach but found no sign of the man. She quickly finished tying up the horse, before wandering onto the beach. Where was he?

She slowly walked onto the beach once more finding a set of footsteps that went into the water. She began to frantically look around for him, where had he gone. "Viscount?" She yelled into the air, hoping for a response. But as the sounds of running water and bugs retook the atmosphere the hope soon vanished.

The thought of something bad happening to him ate at her, this whole trip was meant to be bait, they were walking into an ambush, but what if it had already sprung. If he were to die wouldn't it be her fault. She cursed under her breath as she brought down her mask and frantically scanned her surroundings. And then she saw it. Hidden in the tree line was three vertical white lines that floated in the air. vaguely reminded her of the demons she had fought.

Her vision faltered to a blue hue as she gazed at the mysterious lights. It suddenly sprinted off into the forest as fast as it had appeared, causing the fear within her to grow even more. "Wardes!" She shouted in a panicked voice. The bushes on the other side of the river where the demon was suddenly rustled.

She quickly rushed back to her horse, pulling an arrow from one of the quivers that rested on her saddle, she pulled off a bow and quickly slid the arrow into place before pulling back. Her heart was racing, if not for the suit she knew her entire body would be shaking, her breathing would be erratic and she would no doubt

The rustling grew louder as the figure causing it came into view. "Louise?" Wardes asked as he exited the bush.

She instantly lowered her bow and brought her mask up as she let out a sigh of relief as he levitated himself across the stream. "I thought something bad had happened to you. I-I-I saw something in the woods and-" before she could complete that thought, a soft gentle hand was placed on her head.

Looking up she found him gazing down at her with a calm and gentle smile, his eyes only adding to the sense of calm she felt. "You needn't worry, my Louise," he said in a soft calming voice that crushed any fear that she had felt. "I am captain of the griffin knights after all. The wildlife around here would pose no match for me. But the fact that you care so much brings me much joy."

"But why didn't you answer when I called your name?"

His smile slowly faded. "We're on a dangerous mission Louise, that artifact you carry is an extremely effective weapon if the legends are true. If it were to fall into the wrong hands then it could spell doom for all of Tristian."

"But-" She was instantly silenced by a single gloved finger.

"I was merely setting upwards so that no one would be able to catch us off guard. Now, how about we go eat supper?" She slowly nodded in agreement.

The pair began to walk back to camp as Louise's mind raced, what was that thing that hid in the forest. It had reminded her of a demon but was it even there. It was only white lights and didn't have the shape of a demon. Should she tell him, tell the group? Would they think she was crazy?

As they passed by his horse, she stopped and looked to the many sword wands remembering the reason why she had come here in the first place. "Wardes."

"Yes, Louise?"

"I was thinking about cooking the meat we've been given, I was wondering if you mind if I could borrow one of your swords to hang it over the fire?"

He turned to her and shook his head. "Although I commend your ingenuity, you never cook salted meat, it's already dry and you would simply make it worse."

"Oh." She lowered her head in response. How had she not realized that sooner, the meat was already dry, cooking it would do nothing but make it worse.

A hand suddenly found itself on her shoulder, she didn't even need to look up to know it was Wardes. "Louise there is nothing to be ashamed of. Like I said ingenuity like that should be praised. But with how you were brought up it's understandable that cooking isn't your forte." He let go of her shoulder before grabbing his own bedroll.

No, with how he was acting he wouldn't find her crazy. with her confidence backing her up, she called out. "Wait." He looked back at her with concern written in his eyes. "Did you notice anything in that forest with you?"

The concern twisted into confusion. "No, I didn't. Why do you ask?"

She bit her lip. She needed to tell him what she saw, but would he believe him? "I saw, three ghostly white lines floating in the forest, near the bush that you exited."

Wardes let out a small sigh. "That was probably your nervous talking I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would have seen something, besides if there is anything out there, my wards will pick it up."

reluctantly accepting his answer, they climbed the hill, but as the campsite came into view, Louise couldn't help but let her jaw hang loose in shock. Tabitha still sat on her bedroll with her staff now leaning against her, but sitting beside her was an armoured Kirche who was currently petting the large red lizard between her legs. "Hey, Louise!" She shouted as she waved at her with a free hand.

Her mind raced, what was she doing here. How had she found them? Should she tell them now, they were walking into an ambush and here Kirche was joining them.

"Is she a friend of yours?" Wardes asked in a serious tone.

"Kind of, it's complicated, she used to tease me about my magical abilities, but from what I've seen recently she really isn't that bad of a person."

"Come on Louise don't ignore your best friend," Kirche shouted once more.

Louise attempted to continue forward but was stopped by him who quickly spun her around to face him. "What's her connection to the Gallian?"

"They're best friends, back at the academy they were nearly inseparable."

The man hummed in response as he scratched his bearded chin. "Do you think she'll tell her anything about this mission."

A chuckle escaped her lips. "No, she hardly says anything normally, I doubt she would say anything now."

"Well then in the event that we're ambushed we'll have more back up." He said as he walked over to the fire.

She quickly did the same, sitting on her own bedroll she pulled out her food and stared at it. It looked like some old shoe. She silently wished she had some of those spices that the servants at her manor used to make those delicious meals. She brought the piece of meat to her mouth and attempted to take a bite out of it.

Her eyes widened, it not only looked like an old shoe, it tasted and was as tough as one too. attempting to pull a piece of it off with her teeth threatened to tear her entire jaw off. Looking around she found both Tabitha and Wardes using their wind magic to slice the meat into swallowable chunks. Pulling the piece of meat out of her mouth she gazed at it.

Her eyes trailed to where Derf was planted as an idea popped into her head. Standing up she walked over to the sword. "Derf?"

He popped out of the sheath almost instantly. "What is it, partner?"

"I need your help, could you just stay like that?"

He said nothing in response, Louise took it as a sign that was ok with it. Standing behind the blade she took the meat in both hands and pressed it up against the sharp edge of the blade. But she soon realized that this wouldn't work.

She looked back at the larger logs that she was going to use to create a makeshift spit roast. Walking over she grabbed it and brought it back over to the blade and stood it up behind it. Attempting to sit on it, she found that it was incredibly unstable causing her to quickly stand up to avoid falling over. She had to rethink her strategy. An idea soon popped into her head as a smile formed on her face. Standing the log back up she lifted her leg and hovered a boot over top of it.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

With the suit's strength, she brought the boot down impaling the log into the ground. She spun around and sat down with grace placing the sheath in-between her legs. Continuing where she left off she placed the meat up against the blade's edge, she began to pull it towards her as she moved it up and down hoping to make the slicing process easier. It had the desired effect as not a minute later she had two pieces of meat both of which were still too large for her to eat.

"You know if you needed help Louise, I could have cut it for you?" The Viscount said as he began eating another slice.

"No, it's fine." She wouldn't be coddled like a baby. Reaching over she pulled the ration bag over towards her and tossed one of the halves onto the bag. She began the process again with the other half of meat.

"So, Louise. Who's this?" Kirche asked in a sly voice not even attempting to hide what she was implying.

"This is Viscount Wardes, Captain of the Griffin Knights of Tristian." She explained as she cut the meat into more manageable chunks she tossed one of the pieces into her mouth and began to long process of attempting to chew.

"And how did you catch such a dashing man?" her chewing instantly stopped as she turned and faced the redhead giving her death stare that slowly shifted to the blue-haired girl communicating her thoughts as clear as day. Tabitha only shook her head in response.

"While I do appreciate the kind words, I do not think my betrothal wishes to speak of this," Wardes told Kirche officially ending the conversation. "But, I am curious about your suit Louise, could you tell me about it?" He asked turning towards her.

Louise suddenly felt as if she was choking, causing her to cough up the food she had been chewing on. Her gaze shifted over to him. "What my suit?"

He smiled at her causing her heart to flutter once more. "Of course, it is such an odd piece of equipment, even being in the griffin corps I have never encountered anything like it."

She could only silently curse at Henrietta for setting things up like this as her face grew red once again. "Well, what do you want to know?"

The man hummed as he seemed to think up his first question in-between eating his meal. "How did you come to acquire such an oddly designed suit of armour?"

She unconsciously bit her lip. "I. Summoned it as my familiar."

"Truly?"

"Yep, we saw her summon it," Kirche added. "Although it was a lot bigger when she summoned it. Her bond, however, transformed it into the same cute petit shape as her."

"Interesting." He said as he scratched his chin before turning back to Louise. "I've heard rumours that it's magical is this true?"

"Yes, it is. It's able to make itself extremely durable for a time, cloak me, but I think its ability to heal me is the best evidence of its ability."

"What do you mean?"

Her gaze shifted back to the fire as memories of yesterday filled her head. "I found myself fighting an orc den yesterday." The pain she felt came back to slowly. "Most of the orcs went down easily enough, but there was this one, that was immortal."

Everyone in the camp started at her even Tabitha was gazing in her direction confused. "Immortal, please Louise there's no such thing." Kirche waved off.

"It's true!" Louise shouted. "I had killed him and he just kept on getting revived." She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning she found Wardes looking at her, concern written in his eyes silently communicating to ignore her. She took a deep breath and composed herself. "Anyways, the large orc hit me with his club knocking me through several stalagmites before coming to a stop. From what the suit told me I had broken my left shoulder."

Wardes seemed to be bewildered by the comment. "Gods, healing a broken bone, much less a shoulder would take months and a small fortune. Not to mention the therapy that a person would have to go through just to be able to use it properly again. And you're saying that your suit sped up that timeline to just a few minutes?"

She nodded. "It gets better, with the help of a man we caused a cave in using gunpowder the orcs had stolen, but as we were escaping, I was shot in the chest by an orc before being crushed in a cave in causing me to pass out. I woke up sometime later and I was fine." she sliced another piece of meat before eating it.

"Your suit sounds extremely powerful, but do you think there would be a limit to how much it can heal you?"

"I don't know, and I really don't want to find out." She looked down at where she had left the larger piece of meat, only to find Kirche's familiar chewing on it. She launched forward grabbing a piece of meat. In response it began to hiss at her and thrash its head back in forth, attempting to steal its meal back from her. "Hey, Kirche!" Louise looked to her finding simply smiling at her from her spot around the campfire.

"Sorry, Louise, Flame really likes his protein, and after the day he had today leading me to you two, I very much doubt even I could call him off. You should probably just let him have it."

She looked back at the lizard, finding it struggling to get the slice of pork away from her realizing that even if she were to get It away from her food it would still be covered in the lizard's saliva. "Fine," She let go of it causing Flame to be launched backwards. Falling onto its back a few feet away. It quickly shook itself upright seemingly content to have its meal. She could only watch as the lizard scarfed down her food, mocking her by licking its lips afterwards.

A sigh escaped her lips as she wondered what she had done to deserve this, was she eternally curse to lose her meal whenever she was travelling. She shook her mind free of those thoughts, she still had her ration of bread. Reaching down she grabbed hold of the back and slid her hand inside only to find it empty. Quickly she opened the bag and looked inside, but that only confirmed it.

She frantically began to search for whoever had stolen it. Tabitha would never do such a thing, Kirche, although mean, wouldn't stoop so low as to steal her food and she was with Wardes, that only left. Her gaze fixated on the red lizard that was staring back at her.

Rage built within her as she clenched her fists, "W-W-Why, you overgrown salamander." She stood up and began to stomp on over to the lizard that had stolen her food as anger began to reach a boiling point. An arm suddenly blocked her path, following it she found that it belonged to Wardes.

"Please Louise, just take mine." He told her.

"Yeah bu-"

"What would your sister say if you were beating up on a poor defenceless lizard that didn't know any better."

Her fists opened up, as the rage began to subside, he was right, Flame may have been a fire salamander and a familiar, but it was still an animal. It was most likely running on instincts. Her sister had taught her that, no matter how brutal nature can be you really shouldn't intervene, it's simply how nature works. "You're right."

A smile formed on his face as he handed her his ration of bread. However, thanks to her enhanced hearing she was able to pick up faint deep chuckling, that sounded as if it was coming from some great beast. Turning towards the sound she found Flame sitting there grinning to the best of its ability. She crushed the piece of bread as her hands reformed into fists.

It was on purpose she knew it, but why her. She began to move forward towards the lizard once more but was stopped when a hand grabbed her arm. "Louise, what did I just say."

She looked back at him shocked. "Did, you not hear that." she turned back to the rest of the group who simply looked on in sheer confusion before turning back to the lizard. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the lizard. The Familiar mirrors the summoner she reminded herself.

xXXXx

Darkness soon consumed the valley as the evening the birds that once sang their songs retreated to their nests replaced by the small clicking sounds of bats as they went about consuming their nightly fill of insects. The evening, however, went on about as well as you could expect, Wardes had asked several more questions about the suit, which she gladly answered. Kirche had a one-way conversation but eventually, everyone went to bed letting the fire die out until the only thing that remained were dull glowing embers.

Except for Louise, she had initially asked if she should be the first to take watch during the night, but Wardes waved her off, stating that it wasn't necessary, that his Wardes would sound a loud alarm that would surely wake them all up.

But even with the wards that her future husband had placed, she felt it necessary to stay up just in case Longueville found a way through, or that ghostly figure returned. She was no fool however, she knew that if she were to be keeping watch she might have been seen, no she laid a trap of her own. With her mask down no one would be able to tell that she was awake or sleeping, and the bedroll was large enough to keep Derf unsheathe and in her hands if she held it against her chest.

The box of destruction was right next to her where it would stay till morning, she wouldn't let them get it, she wouldn't fail, not this time. But no matter how strong her resolve was, she couldn't help but feel bored. You could only stare up at the starry duel moon sky for so long before feeling that distinct void of mental stimulation. But she would stay strong.

The sudden sound of rustling brought her back to reality, turning towards the source of the sound she found Wardes, slowly getting out of his bedroll. The confusion began to take hold, why was he getting up so late into the night? She watched as he patted himself off, before sliding on his boots. He grabbed his swordwand and wandered off into the woods.

Had someone triggered a ward, but what about the noise, why hadn't it been triggered. She debated following him bud decided against it, he was probably going to do something that he would rather do alone. She looked back to the two moons overhead that illuminated the landscape briefly wondered what it was like up there. Could there be life up there, if there was did they look down at their planet and wonder the same thing.

The earth suddenly began to shake, causing her to shoot up to a sitting position. Activating her Tactical visor, she swiftly scanned the landscape finding nothing out of the ordinary.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED**_

Even with her newfound night vision, she found nothing, sweat began to form on her face as the rest of her team woke up. The earth shook once more this time more violently as she turned off her nanovision, had a golem been summoned, if that was the case then where was it, why couldn't she see it. She reached out for the box of destruction, but before she could grab it, the earth underneath her gave way.

"Louise!" the voice of Kirche yelled at her. A terrified scream escaped her lips as she fell into the darkness. Several moments passed before she landed on her stomach winding her. She couldn't help but cough and gasp attempting to get her breathing back in line. As her breathing got back to normal, she slowly picked herself up only to be forced back down as something collided with her back before landing somewhere to her left

Looking to her left, she found that it was the box of destruction that had fallen on her. Ignoring it for the moment, she threw off the bedroll that still covered her before standing up. Her gaze turned skywards finding the two moons staring back at her un-caring. The hole seemed to be around a hundred feet deep if she had to guess. But what worried her more was the fact that her friends were still up there.

As if on command the head of Kirche popped over the side of the hole. "Louise, are you ok?" Her voice echoed off the walls that confined her in the dark hole.

"I'm fine, I'm more worried about you!"

"What do yo-" The redhead was suddenly cut off by a gunshot that echoed across the valley. She turned away from the hole, obviously looking at some unseen threat. "Shit! Tabitha!" her head popped back into view as more gunshots were shot off. "Louise stay there we'll come get you in a bit." Before she could protest the redhead left her sight, leaving her alone as the sounds of battle raged overhead.

Louise grit her teeth as resolve filled her, she couldn't simply let her friends deal with the aggressors that were after her, no she needed to do something. She placed Derf up against the wall and looked to where the box laid. Picking it up she set it on her back, reaching back to her blade, she pressed it up against her hip as the familiar clicking sound of him locking into place.

"So, what's the plan partner?" The blade on her hip asked.

"I heard that rock climbing was popular in Albion before the quarantine, thought I'd give it a try." She answered.

"Did I just hear a joke in the middle of a battle?" The sword questioned? She simply ignored it not wanting to deal with the sword's remarks. walking up to the wall that surrounded her, she examined the walls, her eyes travelled upwards to the sky as the intense sound of battle continued to flood the hole She needed to be fast. Crouching down she felt the power build in her legs for a moment before shooting upwards towards freedom.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

As she reached the apex of the jump she threw an arm into the wall before doing the same with the rest of her limps allowing her to gain some kind of foothold. A small smile formed on her face as she slowly realized that she had just jumped a good twenty feet. As if sensing her happiness, the entrance to the hole began to shrink attempting to enclose her in. Gritting her teeth, she jumped once more doing the same thing at the apex of the jump.

But it was no use, with the speed at which the opening was shrinking, she wouldn't be able to get out in time. She couldn't stop the tears that began to form in her eyes. Why? Why even with so much power was she a failure, her new-found friends would be dead because of her.

"Hurry." The soft voice of Tabitha broke her from her thoughts.

Gazing upwards she found the small blue-haired girl standing over the edge of the pit, which was now encased in ice stopping its progress. The smile returned to her face as she continued her journey up with renewed vigour.

She sailed up the hole as fast as she could, the sounds of battle becoming more and more clear the further up she went. Tabitha looked more and more strained as she climbed the hole, most likely due to the fact that the earth would be applying pressure on the ice. This was confirmed as cracks began to form in the ice as she climbed higher and higher.

The icy edge of the hole was soon within reach, Louise wasted no time grabbing hold of it. But as she pulled herself up, the earth shook once to the point that she thought the Longueville had summoned an earthquake to defeat them. Her grip on the edge shook loose as she began to fall back into the deep dark abyss. A chain suddenly wrapped around her arm, pulling her back up to ground level.

She landed on her back with a thud. Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, finding that she was next to Kirche and flame, the former had her hatchet at the ready, the next thing she noticed was the ice that surrounded the trio.

She was about to question her when the sound of heavy panting caught her attention. Turning towards the source she found a kneeling Tabitha the right arm was bare of clothing with the torn arm of her gambeson tied off around her upper arm squeezing it tightly.

The darkness obscured her vision but she knew something was wrong. Walking over to her, she found that her skin was clammy and pale, her breath uneven, something was very wrong. She paled as she watched the blood flow down her arm pooling at in the grass. "What happened!?" She shouted over the roar of gunfire.

"She was shot," Turning she found Kirche glaring at her as she walked over to them. "From the amount of blood, it seems like it hit an artery. I've done all I could to help her, but I don't know any water spells."

"Couldn't you cauterize it?"

"The musket ball is still in there, I can't close it up until it's out." The redhead paused as she turned to face her, anger as clear as day in her eyes. "Meaning we have to get her to a water mage soon or she'll end up dead." Her eyes were alit with rage, it was as if she was watching the start of a roaring fire. "She shouldn't have pushed herself."

"How did they get past the wards?" She asked trying to keep her friends mind on track.

"It was sudden, I was focused on getting you out, then Tabitha was shot, and then they rose out of the ground like fucking gremlins."

"How many?"

"Twenty, I think. This is pointless, we have to kill these monsters, fast." Louise flinched slightly, she knew that Kirche was a hot head but this was something else. "How well can that suit handle fire."

"I'm not sure, why do you ask?"

"Never mind." she turned to face her familiar. "Flame protect her, guard her with your life." The beast let out a small flame as it lowered its head ready for a fight. As the pair readied themselves the roar of gunfire died, causing the pair to look at each other confused. The earth began to shake once more as the sound of loud footsteps as if a giant was stalking them.

 _ **CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED**_

Louise audibly gulped as she gazed skywards, finding a giant dimly lit earth Golam staring back at her.

It slowly raised its giant foot in an obvious attempt to crush them. Instincts guided her hands to the box of destruction. Her hands moved of their own gripping both handles of the box as the small cylinder popped out of the top of it.

Its foot began its decent downwards on top of the trio. She pressed the button on the handle. Her surroundings were instantly lit up as several loud blasts deafened the group. It was as if she was watching a small swarm of fireflies. The projectiles collided with the golem, each one exploded tearing off chunks hurling each piece off in a random direction.

The sheer destruction of the box sent a wave of pleasure through her body. She pressed the button again as another eight lights were thrown at the golem tearing off even more chunks of rock. it seems as it had been thrown off balance from the assault as it began to fall backwards. Several terrified screams could be heard as it landed. It had to have crushed a few of the poor souls that had attacked her.

Louise turned to Kirche who looked at her with unwavering resolve. "You ready?"

She slowly put on her helmet. "You know it."

xXXXx

Perrin Bourseiller laid on his back confused, his mind ran with questions as his ears rang, a faint taste of blood and dirt was on his tongue as he laid there in the tree line. What had happened to him, the last thing he remembered was the golem summoned by his employed, explosions, then he was on his back. He reached up to his mouth with a free hand and wiped it. Pulling it away he found a dark splotch of blood staining his glove.

To his left rested his musket, the hammer cocked back ready to fire. As the ringing in his ears slowly died down he could hear the very distinct groans coming from just beyond the gun. Looking past it, he found the fire sign that something had gone terribly wrong. An armoured man whose helmet obscured his face was struggling to push a large boulder off of the lower half of his body occasionally letting out tiny screams of pain as he attempted the obviously pointless task.

He felt his heart sank as he paled. The man was cursing at the gods for letting him end up this way. Would anyone care enough to help him, would it even matter, with the boulder being as large as it is what would it matter. During his time serving on the ship he once called his home men had died for simply being run over by cannons that weren't properly tied down which probably didn't even weigh a tenth of what this man was under.

His eyes avoided contact with the doomed man as he gazed passed him. He could only gape in shock as he realized that in front of him was the remains of that siege golem that his boss had summoned. It had crushed an entire flank of the forest where a good chunk of their force had resided. Did he know anyone that was over there? However, that question was drowned out, by a single word that escaped his dry chapped lips. "How." He muttered.

How had they toppled that, from what he was told they would be attacking a small group of nobles who had set up camp here. He never expected this kind of firepower. Screams and gunfire filled the air once more, this time to his right he looked over and found a man laying down like he was, only he had a small hatchet embed in his chest.

His breathing began to speed up as his vision cleared allowing him to see the small clouds of steam leaving his mouth eyes and ears. The sounds of battle were as renewed. Battle cries could be heard from in front of him. He looked towards the sound finding three of his allies covered head to toe in plate mail rushing that redhead, and a small figure clad in an odd suit of armour that sent chills down his spine. The men raised their pole axes ready to attack.

He turned away as they clashed. He had to help them. Reaching over, he grabbed his musket and closely examined it. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized that it was still in working condition, the last thing he would want is for it to blow up in his hands. Using both of his arms, he pushed himself up onto his unstable legs.

Gunfire was heard from the tree line, as the rest of his group got back. As the gunfire quieted several loud screams of pain could finally be heard, causing him to freeze up. Fear filled every part of his body as he looked to where his allies once stood. Holes covered their backs one of which had a sword through his gut. Did they just fire on their own? Who ordered that where was his boss?

The bodies were dropped to the floor as a red-hot chain shot into the forest attaching to the nearby hatchet and yanking it towards the redhead. Before he could even process what had happened, several explosions tore through the nearby firing line killing all who had just shot at them. He watched in horror as viscera and gore was thrown across the dark forest landscape.

He soon began to hyperventilate as fear began to eat away at his mind. He ran back into the forest for fear of his own life. Soon coming to a stop by a tree, he pressed himself into it, attempting to hide. He pressed the musket into his chest as he tried and failed to get his breathing under control.

Tears began to form at the edges of his eyes. This wasn't fair, it wasn't fair. This was all his bastard king's fault. He had no choice after his ship was seized and repurposed for quarantine detail he had no income, how was he supposed to support his family, he didn't even have enough money to get them out of the mountains, this was supposed to fix that. Once he did he could work on a farm or something.

He clenched his gun harder as he tried to work through the fear. It seems he wasn't the only one to have lost their nerve as several other musket men ran past him, attempting to escape the people that they had attacked.

"Where are you going!" The callus voice of their boss shouted.

He turned, finding the cloaked figure of his boss walking towards the group that had just ran past. A masked man turned and confronted her. "This is insane, they just took out your golem like it was nothing and you expect us to fight them with nothing but a musket!? I don't know who you are, but there's only four of us left, your gods damn golem crushed most of us!"

"It may have been a small setback, but I'm in the process of constructing another one. But the process takes time which is why I need you to defend me while it finishes construction." Perrin watched as the group looked between themselves.

"Fuck this, I'm leaving, you can keep your gods damn money." He shoved her aside as he walked away.

As Perrin watched him walk away, he saw a faint glow emanating from the women's cloak a tell-tale sign of a spell. Not a moment later a large sharp spike shot out of the ground impaling that man killing him instantly. The spike retreated back into the ground as the man's body fell into a pile of limp limbs.

"Now, if anyone wishes to leave, this is their chance, if not. I suggest that you get back there and hold them of-" before she could finish her sentence, a red-hot chain shot out from behind Perrin wrapping around the neck of an unfortunate man that was close by. He let out a pained scream as he was yanked to the ground dropping his musket in the process. He reached up to the chain that was strangling him. The sizzle of burning flesh was heard as his screams turned into gurgles. "Shit, go, buy me time and I'll double your share."

Perrin turned towards the other man of the group who did the same, both of which were terrified, and they knew it. They were dead man, that much was apparent. It was no use trying to deny it, they were once a group of twenty-five, now they were down to two.

The paired pressed themselves up against the trees and silently waited for their aggressors to attack. Sweat was running down his face, stinging his eyes and his mouth was dry. He silently prayed to whatever gods were watching him right now to protect him, to let him see his family again, to let him survive this battle, to let him see the sunrise just one more time.

The sound of footsteps broke him from his prayers. He readied his musket, pulling the hammer back. He looked across from him finding his final ally mouthing something to himself most likely doing the same thing he had just done. He leaned back onto his tree as the footsteps closed in on his positions as his breathing grew heavier. He looked across once more finding the man staring directly at him they shared the same idea, the same wish.

Together they swung around the tree aiming their muskets towards the source of the footsteps but found nothing. Confusion filled his head, had they imagined it, was the stress getting to them? the snapping of bones to his side brought him back to reality. Turning he found that odd suit of armour standing over the broken body of his ally.

His jaw hung loose in shock, how had it gotten past them. His heartbeat quickened as he gazed into the horrifying red glass that covered the monster's eyes. Its armour was dimly lit but the sight of it caused him to freeze in fear. Just what was that thing? He raised his musket, he wouldn't give up, they needed him. He let out a scream as he fired his gun. His ears rang as the gunpowder ignited launching the musket ball forwards.

The scent of sulphur stung his nose as a smoke cloud obscured his vision. The smoke slowly dissipated allowing him to see once again finding nothing but the body. His heart picked up once again even faster than before. Where was it? His eyes darted around the landscape looking for any sign of the demon that had killed them as he slowly backed away, he wouldn't let it get him, he couldn't

A hand suddenly appeared on his chin and yanked his head up, forcing his gaze upwards, towards two uncaring moons that loomed over him. This was it, he knew it was, this was where he would die. A sudden punch to the throat confirmed it. His body jerked as he was let go, falling to the floor. He gasped for air as he clawed at his throat, he was choking, dying. He tried desperately to breathe, but no matter how hard he fought to live, it did nothing to free him from the crushing suffocation.

As his vision began to turn fuzzy, he could only watch as the silver-black demon slowly sauntered away in the direction his boss had ran. His world went dark, alone with his dying thoughts. A single tear ran down his face, he had failed them.

xXXXx

With the last of their attackers dealt with, Louise's mind focused on the only path in front of her. Kirche had left to take care of Tabitha leaving her alone to face the traitorous secretary. She wouldn't be able to live the guilt of her dying because of her foolishness. But no, this wasn't her fault, if it wasn't for that women that she was now chasing none of this would have happened. Her saunter picked up to a jog as an insatiable fire started in her core. The need to end this was the only thing her mind cared about.

The earth began to shake once more as she slowed to a stop in the middle of a small forest clearing. Trees flanked her sides but they were no indications of a new golem being summoned. Slowly she reached over her shoulder and grabbed hold of the box. She cautiously pulled it over her shoulder readying it for anything that came her way.

The rumbling grew louder as the earth shook more. She couldn't help but feel the whole thing tiring, she had already gone through this once before. The top of the golem soon appeared above the trees. She couldn't help but feel confused, why would she summon a golem when it didn't work the first time. Was she mad? Or was this something else?

"Really Longueville? Your golem didn't work the first time what makes you think it will this time?" Her mocking went unanswered as the golem slowly moved towards her. She couldn't help but feel that this was simply a distraction, there was no way a person that was able to orchestrate an attack on the princess was this simple-minded. but no matter where she looked she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

Perhaps she was mad enough to try the same strategy. She hefted up the box aiming at the golem. Slowing her breathing she readied herself to fire it. Her grip on the handles tightened as she hovered a thumb over the button. As the golem got within a comfortable range she unleashed the box. Eight streaks of light filled the air for a moment, before exploding at its target.

The explosions reverberated across the valley, as chunks of rock were thrown everywhere. The golem continued on its course albeit a bit slower. She quickly readjusted her grip, ready to fire another volley.

"Partner to your left!"

 _ **THREAT DETECTED**_

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the earth twist and begin to warp. No doubt this was Longueville. Before she could turn to face it, the earth exploded as a cloaked figure popped out of the ground. Pain shot from her arm as some unseen weapon pierced her suit. Her mind raced through potential options that she could do. Deciding on her next course of action she gripped the box tighter, before swinging it at Longueville.

The secretary dodged back. Through the darkness, she could see a faint smile on the woman's face. The weight of the box carried her swing forward leaving her open to attack the cloaked figure seemed to know this and quickly launched forward.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

Her armour came up just as an unseen weapon came into view. Her eyes widened at the sight, it was a simple metal handcuff, the most notable feature was the blue and white gems that emitted a dull glow at the base of the cuff. It wrapped around her wrist. Pain suddenly ran across her body as her suit was sapped of energy. She screamed in pain as she dropped the box and fell to her knees.

Her screams soon died down as she realized that she couldn't breathe, she was suffocating. Her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as she fell onto her side. Why couldn't she breathe, the suit was sapped but she should still be able to breath. Confidence turned to fear as she laid there on the grassy forest floor.

She could feel a faint pressure on her side as she was kicked over onto her back allowing her to see the women before her. The pain soon stopped entirely as the cuff on her wrist ceased to glow at all. Her vision began to darken. She had failed. No matter how much power she had she was still a zero.

 _ **OPERATOR'S LIFE SIGNS FALLING**_

 _ **ACTIVATING DEFIBULATOR**_

Her body jerked upwards as a quick sharp pain hit her in the chest her. Her vision brightened for but a moment before returning to darkness. The women looked shocked for a moment but quickly went back to work walked around over to the box of the destruction. She could faintly hear the earth shake as the golem in the distance collapsed.

 _ **OPERATOR'S LIFE SIGNS FALLING**_

 _ **ACTIVATING DEFIBULATOR**_

Her body jerked once more as the pain returned. Her vision returned for another moment but was soon replaced once more with the darkness. Her mind briefly wondered what it meant about life signs, was she dying. She internally laughed, of course, she was, she couldn't breathe.

 _ **OPERATOR'S LIFE SIGNS FALLING**_

 _ **ACTIVATING DEFIBULATOR**_

Her body jerked once last time. The pain filled her but was soon replaced by a sense of relief as she took a deep breath. She looked over to where the box laid and found the secretary standing in its place. Beside her a golem, whose dirty traitorous hands held the box. The fear that she had felt had been replaced by the same fire that fueled Kirche's attacks earlier.

She sprung upwards as she pulled her sword from her waist and brought it overhead. Before Longueville could react, she brought it down on the golem. Metal met rock with a loud clank. Derf went to work sucking out the magic that animated the golem.

Through the hood, she could make out the surprised face of her attacker. The women reacted best she could, launching a dagger-wielding arm at her. She felt her heart skip a beat as the witnessed the dagger. The same red dagger that had slit her throat all those nights ago. A beast within her roared, stoking the battle fire in her core it called for the death of the one who brought so much pain to her. Louise quickly blocked the blade with her arm. The pain the shot from her arm was ignored. She could this, she had won.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_.

The armour enclosed around the dagger, keeping it in place as the women attempted to retrieve it. Louise gave a quick left hook. The crunch of bone signalling that she had broken the woman's nose. Her hood came down revealing the green-haired women. A yelp escaped Longueville stumbled back clenching her nose with a single hand as her other hand ducked out of site reaching for what Louise could only assume to be a wand.

As the hand came back into view her suspicions were confirmed. She dashed forward covering the gap in a single step. Before the green-haired women could even utter a single word, Louise's hand wrapped around the hand that held the wand.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

With her enhanced strength, she crushed the woman's hand in her grip. Screams of pain filled the cool night air. Her free hand ran up to her throat. Her cold metallic hand wrapped around the women's windpipe and began to lift her up until she was on her toes.

She had done it. She had defeated the person that had caused her so much fear was now at her mercy. The beast inside her called for her death once more, to finish her off so that Tristian would be rid of more enemy. Her grip slowly tightened around the women's neck causing her eyes to bulge outwards as she clawed at the hand that held her fate. It wouldn't have been hard either, a small twist, a simple movement of her fingers and she would break her neck, leading to her death.

But she was already defeated, she would be better alive so that she could be interrogated, figure out what Reconquista's plans are.

But she tried to kill you, confined the princess to little more of a dungeon. If she were to kill her right now no one would care.

But what if she had a family? What if she was trying to save them.

What about everyone else she had killed; didn't they have family why start caring now.

But what would Cattaleya think, could she accept that you killed someone in cold blood?

This had nothing to do with what is right or wrong. The mission was to get rip of the Reconquista presence, this was simply the most efficient strategy possible.

Her arms began to shake as the debate in her head continued to get worse. What should she do, if she were to take her into custody and interrogate her she could escape. No that was an extremely likely option, she was an earth mage, all it would take would be a single corrupt guard slipping her a wand or anything that could be used as a foci.

"Louise!" a voice suddenly shouted at her. Turning she found Viscount in a tattered uniform, marred by a combination of blood and dirt. What had happened to him? No she could question him later. "Drop her, she's defeated, she'll be of better use to use alive than dead."

She looked back to the women in her grasp, who had passed out from the asphyxiation. She let go of the women, causing her to fall to the ground, landing with a thud. Her body laid limp on the ground as she slumbered.

Looking over to her cuffed wrist ripped it off with ease. Her eyes looked to her other arm where the daggered remained embedded. Gripping the handle, she took a deep breath as she prepared for the coming stab of pain. She ripped it out cause a short-pained groan to escape her lips.

"So, what now?" she asked as she examined the blade. It was truly a work of art. The blood-stained blade seemed to be made out of some type of alloy but she couldn't quite tell. Her eyes looked over at the downed secretary as she held her broken hand. Considering that she was a square class earth mage, she must have made it.

Then and there she decided to take it, placing it just above her waist where Derf usually sits. It would be kept there as a testament to her victory. A way to show the world that she had defeated the one that brought her so close to death.

"We continued as plan, were only a half day to port, we get on the next ship to Albion hand over the box and then we head home." Louise couldn't face him, should she tell him, the plan was complete they had gotten what they came for. They didn't really need to go all the way to Albion.

"The mission is over."

"What?" He asked. "What do you mean?"

"The letter from my mother was a fake, she never asked for the box to be transferred into her protection." Louise walked over to Longueville and crouched down finding that she was still alive. She picked her up and tossed her onto her shoulder. "This was nothing more than a trap to capture her as the princess believes she is working for Reconquista." She told him as she turned him.

The show of shock was as clear on his face as the moons were in the sky. He seemed absolutely bewildered at the statement. "You knew we were walking into an ambush. That's why you were so fearful."

She turned away from him as shame began to build within her core, was he mad at her, of course, he was she had lied and put not only him but every other person in her group in danger. The faint sound of footsteps could be heard approaching her.

"But the fact that you would come up with such a plan only reaffirms my previous statement about your ingenuity. If you ever wish to join one of Tristian's military branches I'll be sure to give them my recommendation and I'm sure the princess will do the same."

She turned to face the voice, finding the viscount a little too close for her comfort causing heat to build up in her face. She could tell that she was turning red.

"But what do you think we should do?"

Her shock was hidden behind her mask. "What, me?"

"I don't know the situation well enough to make a choice, so I ask again, what is our next course of action." she couldn't tell if he was lying, but his eyes were as serious as they could be.

Her gaze shifted to the grassy floor. "Tabitha has been terribly hurt. We should probably continue on to La Rochelle. Get her to a water mage, make sure that her bleeding gets taken care, of."

The man scratched his chin. "Then we best get back if we leave now we should be there a little bit after sunrise. Hopefully, our horses made it out all right." The pair dashed back to camp and wasted no time getting back onto the road.

xXXXx

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _So yeah, I really hope you enjoyed that chapter, it was a ton of fun writing it. That unique pov was very interesting to write and I hope you found it equally as interesting to read._**

 ** _Have a great day/night where ever you are and let me know how it was in the reviews._**


	17. Chapter 17: Detour

Fear, anger, anxiety. Louise's group felt all of these things as they ascended the winding mountain path to La Rochelle. It had started when the group prepared to leave their camp. It was decided that packing up would waste time they weren't sure Tabitha had, so they left all that was deemed unnecessary for the trip. Mostly meaning bedrolls wood and any left-over rations. In order to make sure that Tabitha had as much time as possible, they tied her right arm to her head to keep it above the heart. Something that Wardes had apparently learned in his knightly training.

It only got worse as, during the battle, one of the horses had managed to get loose running off, leaving them a horse down for a group that had just added two people. This is what led to the current set up. Wardes rode the first horse, with Longueville bound and gagged, hanging on the hind legs of the horse, courtesy of some of Kirche's chains.

Which was another issue altogether, Louise had made a conscious decision not to tell Kirche that she was the one behind the attack, after seeing how she acted to the grunts that had hurt Tabitha, she could only imagine what she would end up doing if she got her hands on the one that orchestrated the whole thing.

Kirche and Tabitha shared the second horse. Kirche sat behind the blue haired girl supporting her, keeping her from falling over off the horse. But as time dragged on she got worse and worse. At first, she was fully conscious of what was happening around her. Her skin was clammy and pale, but she would respond to questions Wardes and kirche would ask her in order to keep her awake. But an hour or so into the journey, she began to fall in and out of consciousness, causing for sometimes where she very nearly fell off the horse at the second hour she began muttering something, about her parents, ice and monsters.

As for Louise, she was watching this disheartening display from the ground, she had chosen to simply run alongside the group, carrying all of her weaponry, her bow Derf, the box and her new knife. And what a disheartening sight it was. She could barely stand to watch as a Kirche nearly in tears attempted to keep the bluenette awake. the limp arm and head, the blood that ran down her arm, absorbing into the gambeson creating a large red splotch under her arm. The small girls' breaths that were so rapid, you would think she wasn't getting air at all.

The small silver lining was that they were now nearing La Rochelle, having just passed the cloud line telling them that they were nearing the small city in the mountains. "Tabitha wake up!" the cried of Kirche brought her back to reality. Looking over to the other horse she found Tabitha leaning on the redhead's arm. Her eyes closed as she was no doubt unconscious.

"What's wrong?" Louise asked. She didn't look any different. She soon noticed the problem; her breathing was slower than before and her fingers had turned slightly blue. Guilt consumed every fibre of her being, this was her fault. If she had told Tabitha about the plan, she wouldn't have been on death's door, she wouldn't have been shot.

"She's not responding, her breathing is slowing down and." Kirche pressed to fingers up against her neck. "Damn it." The redhead muttered under her breath as she slowed to the stop. She grabbed both sides of the small girl and spun her around to face her. Grabbing both halves of the coat she ripped it in two revealing her pale body. She wrapped both her arms around her and pulled her close before leaning in. She pressed her ear up against the girl's clammy chest.

Louise and Wardes had stopped just in front of her. Both of them help their breaths as Time passed by at a snail's pace as everyone waited for the news. The anticipation grew and grew until it felt like a large burden had been placed on their shoulders. "Her heartbeat is slowing down," she pulled back as she placed the back of her hand on her head. "and she's growing cold"

Louise looked on, holding her breath. "What. What does that mean?" she turned back to Wardes who simply closed his eyes and shook his head, "What does that mean!" She shouted, looking for an answer. She needed to know the guilt built within her if Tabitha were to die because of her that would have made her the third person.

"It means that her heart could be starting to fail," Wardes said in a calm tone.

"Meaning!"

"Meaning that we need to pick up the pace." in a moment Kirche's horse exploded forward, in a stunning display of speed. Louise barely had time to register the look of anger and fear that sat upon the redhead's face.

"You fool! The horses can only go for so long!" Wardes shouted as they attempted to keep up with her.

"I'm not letting my best friend die!" She called back. Louise grit her teeth. Planting her foot on the ground, she burst forward at a speed the rivalled some breeds of dragon. She ran and ran until she surpassed the redhead. Quickly she stepped in front of the horse. The horse seeing its new obstacle attempted to stop, planting its hooves in the ground skidding to a stop only inches away from the small armoured girl. "Louise get out of the way!"

"Give her to me!" Louise asked as she walked to the side of the horse.

"What!"

"I said give her to me, I can run much faster than a horse. You want her to live to give her to me!" Kirche looked away as she pressed her lips together and rocked her head seemingly contemplating her options.

"Louise, we've talked about this, you could end up making it worse if your too rough when you r-"

"Fine." She said still looking away from her. She picked up the pale girl and lowered her to Louise who quickly picked her up in a bridal carry. Somewhere deep down she felt as if this was wrong, this wasn't the way to carry her in this situation. Slinging her over her shoulders she pulled off her bow and handed it to the redhead. With her shoulders now clear she adjusted the blue-haired girl so that she laid across her shoulders. It was called a fireman carry. She shook her head she could worry about why she knew that later.

She broke out into a sprint leaving the rest of the group in the dust. She dashed down the road leaving a trail of dust in her wake. Her body twisted and turned to more easily follow the winding road as it veered to the left and right following the mountain's formation to a tee. Her legs burned as she picked up even more speed. Her heart was beating rapidly as it attempted to get blood to her legs to allow her to continue the strenuous activity. but her mind was as clear as the sky. She ignored the feeling, she couldn't let Tabitha die, she wouldn't.

Her body began to slow down against her will. What was happening, why was she slowing? Her mind raced to find the answer. "Mother, Father." Louise heard the girl muttered causing her to let out a small curse under her breath. She began to search with a new intensity.

 **(Low energy)**

Her eyes instantly shifted to the energy bar in the bottom left corner, finding it blinking red as it was about to deplete. She cursed her suit for having such a low energy basin, she had someone to save why couldn't she push past it! She decided to stop for a moment to let her suit recharge at the next bend in the road.

Coming to a stop she gazed at the path in front of her as her eyes formulated a plan on how to run through it while saving the most time possible. But then she saw it. In the distance, some miles from where she stood, was the large entrance to the port city. The large and sturdy bridge that connected this mountain with the large near indestructible gates that protected the carved-out city that was La Rochelle. And carved out was right. The mountain that housed the port was split in two leaving enough room for people to build down the middle. Beyond it, several airships could be seen leaving and entering the port. It surprised her that there would be activity in the port at such hours of the day.

With her energy now replenished she continued the sprint as energy pooled into her legs. In no time she had made it to the bridge and crossed it in less than a minute. The gates were luckily open and manned by a single sleeping guard. She felt confused by the lack of security but simply brushed it aside. She had more important things to worry about. She entered the city finding herself flanked by two large rock walls each of them had several openings that were carved out of the rock. Each of which was either some house of a business of some kind.

The city seemed empty as there was hardly anyone in sight, the ones that she could see were all helpless drunks who were asleep. As a groan from Tabitha echoed in her ears resolve began to fill her. "Hold on Tabitha were almost there." She told her as she looked around frantically for any signage that pointed towards a water mage. But all she could find was more carved out windows for houses that seemed empty. Her mind began to think of possible places that the water mage would be located. She continued to run down the main street looking for any type of signage.

Eventually, she found herself in what seemed to once be a small market located in a circular plaza, the center of which housed a large trunk of a tree that once stood there. However, only one of the stands still stood which was manned by an older woman with bright grey hair who was selling simple knick-knacks that only a person with too much money would spend to decorate where ever they worked.

She quickly jogged over to the women's stand as she brought her mask up and asked for directions to the water mage. The women quickly answered her and pointed towards an opening in the rock wall on the other side plaza. Thanking her she followed her instructions. Dashing on over to the opening finding that it was a set of stairs illuminated by a torch. Wasting no time, she descended the stairs into soon finding herself on an actual populated and paved street underneath the mountain.

Surprise gripped every fibre of her being. All around her were men and women, most of them were armoured to a degree and armed with various weapons but something they all shared in common was the wands they carried. They took different forms, whether it was a blade a staff or a simple stick they were all mages. It was truly an odd sight. Tristian was known for having the highest population of mages in the continent with it being somewhere around ten percent. But this was something else, everyone here was a mage.

Entering the traffic caused a feeling of claustrophobia to creep up her spine. She had dealt with traffic like this before in Tristian on a busy day of the void. But being underground only made it worse. She pushed through the feeling, she needed to move. She made her way through the torch-lit roads that filled the mountain as she followed the directions given to her until she ended up bumping into someone. Looking up to see who she had bumped into she found the back of a tall man who clenched his head in pain as he let out a small groan. It was obvious that he had no care for anything when he didn't do anything.

Confused she looked passed him, finding a long line of various men and women, all of which clenched their heads. At the end of the line, she found a sign. It was a simple white staff with two blue serpents snaking around it but it meant everything to her. Adjusting the girl on her back she quickly pushed through the line, insults and other indignities were through her way, but she simply ignored it. As she attempted to push through the last man that stood in her way to the water mage she was shoved backwards meeting her first physical pushback since she had gotten her.

Looking up she found that he was on the larger side, which wasn't helped by the large blue gambeson coat he wore "Back of the line girl." The man gritted out.

"It's an emergency!" She pleaded with the large man hoping that he would see reason.

"If my boss sees me hungover before cast off then I'm fucked. Back of the line!" He barked as he turned back around.

Anger filled her how dare he stop her when she was so close. She clenched her fists as she let out a slow huff.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Reaching up she grabbed the man's collar with her one free hand before throwing him back on to the street causing the traffic to grind to a halt as the large obstacle was too large to simply walk over. She turned away and walked into the doctor's office finding that the line continued to a desk in the center of the room. She briskly pushed through the rest of the line soon coming to a desk. A woman, more precisely a short-haired brunette sat at the table, her legs were up on the desk as she read a book making her look as if she was completely uninterested in anything other than what she was reading. "Fill out this form and we'll get you your potion right away." The woman said with a tired sigh.

"My friend needs help, it's an emergency!" Louise shouted her fear seeping into her voice.

"You and everyone else's, fill out the form and we can get you your potion."

"This is serious it isn't a hangover!"

The woman's let out a small sigh as her head fell back in annoyance. "Look I don't care how you word it-." The words died in the woman's throat as she glanced at her. "Gods what happened." She asked in a rush as she shot to her feet obvious in a state of panic.

"She was shot a few hours ago, from what I can tell it hit an artery in her arm." She explained. The women quickly made her way across the desk and quickly pressed the back of her hand up against the small girl's forehead.

"She's cold." The women muttered. She quickly turned towards a doorway on the right side of the room "Johnathan! Purify the room and prep for surgery, possible amputation!" To say that Louise felt her heart sink into her stomach would be an understatement. It was more like her heart tumbled into the bleakest demonic abyss this world had to offer, leaving her alone with the feeling of dread. Amputation was a serious thing, it wasn't easy to get a prosthetic much less one that was both the forearm and upper arm.

The woman turned back to her, "Bring her into that room and lay her on the table." She looked past her to the rest of the people waiting. "As for the rest of you, we're closed. Go bother that whore of an alchemist two floors down!" The line as if acting as a single entity groaned as one as they left.

Louise did as she told briskly walking into the neighbouring room finding a man in the process of dawning his surgical uniform standing next to a table, his mouth was covered with a blue cloth, his body was covered in a white apron. Underneath was a grey tunic. The man once finished with the process held his gloved hands up in front of him, as he gestured with a small twist of his body to set the girl down. Once again doing as she was told, she gently laid the girl down on the table.

She audibly gulped as she noticed that Tabitha's hand was almost entirely blue at this point, this was her fault this was her fault this was her fault. She kept repeating that phrase in her mind as regrets began to seep into her mind. The sound of wheels rolling behind her, caused Louise to turn around. She found the women that she had just talked to, dressed in a similar garb to the man and was currently rolling a tray of medical equipment over to the man. He grabbed a wand from the table and quickly sliced the blood-soaked gambeson bandage in two before pulling it off revealing the hole in her arm. Her heart sank even deeper than before as she watched him work to try and save her friend.

A hand was placed upon her shoulder. Looking over to the owner of the hand she found the woman standing there her expression covered by the cloth on her face. "You should leave, we have chairs in the main room where you can wait." She looked back to the girl on the operating table and felt fear grip her one more time. Whether she was here or out there it wouldn't matter. With a small nod, she returned to the main room.

The door behind her closed as she crossed the threshold they no doubt wanted their privacy. With a sigh, she turned back to the main room finding that It had cleared out leaving her alone with her own thoughts. Looking over to her left she found several wooden chairs pressed up against the wall. Walking over to it she pulled Derf off of her hip and set him against the wall before sitting down sitting down as she attempted to ward off the fears that plagued her mind.

Without the panic of trying to get help, Louise was finally able to take in the environment. Across from her was a cabinet full of various potions and other medical commodities. Behind the desk was a simple clock that ticked every second only adding to her dread to her left were windows that allowed her to gaze out into the dimly lit tunnel. The mages and commoners running around like rats in a maze. Looking past them, she found a small restaurant, in the window, was a group of people being served breakfast. Her gaze shifted back to the rock floor beneath her feet as her mind's imagination began to take hold. She knew it was pointless to fantasize the worst-case scenario but she couldn't help herself.

 **Tick**

 **Tock**

Her heartbeat was low when she had left the group on top of the fact that she was cold. Didn't that mean someone was dead?

 **Tick**

 **Tock**

Even if she did live what would happen if her arm was amputated? Would she even be able to function without her dominant hand?

 **Tick**

 **Tock**

No, she needed to trust that these people would be able to save her. They wouldn't have tried if they didn't think it was possible.

 **Ti-**

In a singular moment, she threw her dagger at the clock piercing the crystal and impaling the dial stopping the hands in their tracks. The blade popped out of his sheath. "Nice shot partne-"

"I'm not in the mood Derf." She said with a tired sigh as she glanced away from the sword.

"Scared for the blue one eh?"

She looked back to her feet as she scratched the back of her helmet in pure reflex. "I can't help but feel that it's my fault. If I had told her about the plan, and that we would be walking into a trap."

"There is a saying an old partner of mine loved. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty.""

She couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape her lips, what kind of saying was that. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that answers to choices made in the past are clearer in the present. You couldn't have known how it was going to turn out."

That was true, it was something a small part of her was telling herself "Do you think she'll be alright?"

The sword paused seemingly searching for what to say. "I don't know, from what I can tell the main issue won't be the wound itself, but the possibility of infection."

"Is an infection really that bad? I've heard my mother talk about from her time on the battlefield, but."

"It is. infection has claimed more of my partners than any other cause of death."

Before she could answer the door to her right opened. Turning towards it, she found the woman standing in the doorway the first thing that she noticed about her was the bloodied gloves that hung at her side there was no doubt in her mind that it belonged to Tabitha.

The metallic scent of blood soon filled her nose completing the scene. She continued to silently gaze at the woman in front of her. Her eyes told her that something was wrong. The woman slowly walked up to her. "Your friend is going to live" She started before sighing. "But there is a complication. We pulled the musket ball without any trouble and stabilized her."

Louise was confused, this was good, where was the complication? "But?"

"But from the way the wound was handled, we believe that there is a good chance of infection."

"What." She paused trying to wrap her head around what she was just told. "What does that mean."

The brunette gave her a solemn look. "It means we'll have to amputate."

Amputate. The word ran through her ears but she refused to acknowledge it. No this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Tabitha was supposed to be fine after we got here. She could feel the humiliation begin to build within her. "Is... Is there nothing else you can do?"

"There. Is one other option."

"What is it!?" She shot to her feet. As hope returned to her.

"There is a potion called rebirth. It could cure the infection. However, I don't have one in my possession right now." Her hope began to deflate. As it was replaced by a fury.

"Where do we get one?" She gritted out through her teeth near instantaneously attempting to suppress her rage.

The woman in front of her seemed to have been able to pick up on her rage because she soon began trembling. "The potion could probably be found at Emilie's alchemy shop two floors down." She replied fearfully.

"Isn't she the one that you called a whore?"

She nodded. "She cares for no one other than herself but she is the best alchemist I've ever worked with. She's also the only one who has such a potion."

Her rage slowly dissipated as she regained her composure. "If she's so great why do you hate her so much?."

"Our families are rivals. We've been competing as water mages for over a hundred years, where ever one family goes the other follows in order to continue it." Louise couldn't help but stop and draw parallels between The Vallieres and the Zerbsts. "We had both agreed to put a stop to it, I would handle being the doctor, and she would be the supplier, thus creating a symbiotic relationship that we both relied on."

"So, what happened?"

The women said nothing. Instead, she took off her gloves and walked over to a trash can on the other side of the room and dropped them inside. She then walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a small red flower which was highlighted by a ring of black in its center. "This happened."

Louise walked over and grabbed hold of it. It was extremely beautiful but she was confused as to how a flower would be that much of a fuss. "What is it?"

"That is an opium poppy. And currently the most popular crop in the region."

Louise shook her head, what had she just said, it was the most popular crop in the region, but you couldn't feed anyone with it, so why was it so popular. "Why?" She asked as she offered the flower back to her

The woman accepted the flower and turned to place it back in the cabinet. "It produces opium, a very power and extremely addictive painkiller. I had used it in my potions to create near instant relief for the injured but people began getting addicted to the feeling of it, faking injuries to get their next dosage. So, I stopped giving it to people. Emilie, however, didn't, they all began to flock to her store in search of the drug. Thanks to that flower she's pushed out all other competition in the city making her the only qualified alchemist. Which is only made worse by the fact that it can lead to death if one overdoses on the stuff."

Louise paused before answering, collecting her thoughts, this Emilie sounded like a terrible person who was abusing the needs of the people to line her own pockets. Could she even trust her, what if she tried to put this opium in whatever potion Tabitha needed? "How long until amputation's the only option?"

"A few hours at most."

"Why only a few hours?"

"We need to make sure that the infection doesn't spread. We can stop the blood from flowing in and out of her arm using some triangle class water magic to stop the spread of infection. But after a few hours, the arm will begin to die."

Without saying a word, Louise walked over to the clock and retrieved her dagger, before walking over to the door while grabbing Derf. She needed to do this, Tabitha had thrown herself into harm's way for her before, dealing with a shady alchemist was nothing.

Walking out she found herself in the middle of a large swarm of traffic, mages all around her leaving and entering the various doorways that flanked the large hall. Turning she began to walk back to where she came in, she swore that she saw the stairs go deeper into the mountain. "Do you even know where you're going, partner?"

She would normally reprimand the sword for speaking so blatantly out in public, but in a crowded place like this, no one would even notice her speaking with anyone. "Well, I have a good idea of what I'm looking for." She replied.

"And what would that be?"

"Well, we know that the alchemy shop is two floors down and the owner is most likely a depraved soul based on what the brunette said. So, we'll probably find her shop in the darkest part of this city." She silently thanked the void that her suit mapped her surroundings as it made finding the stairwell so much easier. She quickly entered the room. The stairs in front of her were walled off. Natural light poured down the steps lighting up everything it touched. Looking to her right she found that the room was a square stairwell that sank deeper into the mountain. Stairs wrapped around the opening in the center of the room, allowing one to see just how deep this hole went.

But before she could do anything she heard the faint sound of choking combined with the subtle gurgling. The sound sent chills down her spine causing her to freeze in place. It had come from beneath her. She inched her way over to the railing that protected the people using the stairs from falling. The choking sound returned for a moment causing her to flinch back in fear. Her breathing hitched in her throat as she attempted to swallow the feeling of dread.

Once again, she inched forward, towards the protective bar. Dread told her not to, to ignore it and simply find another way down. She pushed through the feeling, grabbing hold of the metal bars. Looking over the end caused a wave of vertigo to wash over her. It looked as if it went down forever, how deep did this city go, she could hardly make out the bottom that rested so far below her. Pulling down her mask she activated her tactical visor, she had to know. As she read the number in the center of her vision she felt her legs begin to tremble in sheer awe. Two miles. The stairwell went down for two miles.

In a near instant, she fell back to the wall as her mask came back up, wishing not to leave it. She stayed there for a moment as she attempted to compose herself before continuing on she had to hurry. She cautiously descended the staircase, going deeper and deeper. She soon found herself in front of another door, to her left was a large 663 painted on the wall in white. The choking came back this time right beside her. Looking towards the source left of her, she found an older looking man lying on the cold stone floor on his side. His eyes were glassy and out of focus, looking on in a sense of apathy. His skin was between the shades of blue and purple and looked as if he was left out in the snow for far too long. One could be forgiven for thinking he was dead if not for the choking and gurgling that escaped his mouth.

She looked around seeing if anyone was coming to the aid of this man, but found nothing but the empty stairwell that she had entered. She slowly approached the man when vomit suddenly shot out of his mouth coating the area in front of his face in the disgusting bile. She instantly backed away as the word plague ran through her mind. No, this wasn't her problem. She had to focus on saving Tabitha. Walking over to the door and left.

If she thought that there would be less traffic the lower she got she wouldn't be more wrong. It seemed thicker then up top, she could hardly fathom why that would be the case. Were these people simply vampires afraid of the sunlight? She pushed back that thought, she needed to find the alchemy shop. She entered the street soon finding herself surrounded on all sides by people who couldn't care less about her.

Even when surrounded she didn't stop her search. She didn't quite know what she was looking for, something that could point her in the right direction, a line, signage it didn't matter to her what form it took she just needed something. She let out a small sigh of annoyance, she should have just asked for directions.

"Move." the wary voice of a guy called out behind her. Turning towards the noise Louise saw the sea of people parting as someone attempted to make it through the crowd. She paused in place causing a short curse to be muttered as people began to pass her by. The man soon came into sight. He was short in stature clutching his gut in pain and looked as if he had been up for the past week. He stumbled through the crowd bumping into several people as he headed to some unknown destination.

She had wanted to move on, thinking the guy was nothing but a drunk who was simply hungover. But she felt something tug at her telling her to follow him that he had the answer she was seeking. Bringing down her mask, she began to trail the sickly man through the maze of tunnels. The suit as if acting on its own placed a small marker that tracked the man, she couldn't explain how it worked but she was glad she had such a feature.

An alchemy sign was soon found as the man stumbled into the shop. Louise sat and stared at it as ideas of what the woman looked like danced through her head. Was she some rough and tough head of some kind of crime ring? Was she some larger than life megalomaniac whose ambitions for control and power grew too great? Or was she some slutty witch who used her powers of seduction to line her pockets?

Swallowing all of those ideas she marched forward towards a door and entered the establishment. The first thing that she took note of was the shelves of plants that lined either side of the of the entrance. Flowers vegetables, fruit but no mushrooms. Beside the shelves were glass cabinets filled to the brim with potions, each one had a slightly different design making it an art gallery of sorts for the beautiful glass sculptures that were the bottles. Beneath her feet was an elegant red carpet that looked like it would take half of her family's coffers to purchase something of similar. Following the rug with her eyes lead her to a glass counter, whose top was made out of ivory which glimmered in the torchlight.

At the counter was the man from before still hunched over clenching his gut only now he was using the desk to stabilize his trembling figure. Behind him was a small wall painted blue. A painting covered a large chunk of the surface depicting a wide expansive field on a sunny day. The wall didn't extend that far to either side, the fact that there was another wall behind it signalled that there were entrances to the back of the store there. "Come on Emilie I need it." the man pleaded with the crime lord. Footsteps could be heard from behind the wall.

Louise waited in bated breath as the footsteps grew closer. Each clack of her heel echoing in her ear. Images of what the women looked like flashed in her mind once more as her imagination was thrown into overdrive. "Like I've said your dosage isn't due for another day." a soft feminine almost childlike voice said as she rounded the corner.

Louise stared in shock at the new women if you could even call her that. She had been completely wrong to what she had thought she would look like. Instead of being a tall brute she was small, rivalling herself in terms of height and stature. Her immaculate ivory skin looked as if it had been cared for since birth with no signs of age or imperfections anywhere on her body. Her blue eyes instead of being hard and cold, looked caring almost motherly in a sense. Her clothing instead of being revelling or bare was modest in every sense of the word. Her white and blue robes reminded her of a Romanian priests' garb. Her long blonde hair was simply brushed, hanging back reaching her waist. instead of being in some extravagant style. In her hands was a long metal staff that ended in a T with chimes hanging off of it.

She had to suppress a blush at just how similar they looked. It was as if she was looking into some strange dimensional mirror as to what could have been. She shoved those feelings deep down into a place she would rather not think of and walked forward.

"Come on Emilie I need it. I'm starting to show symptoms." The man pleaded.

Emilie ignored his plea's as she walked over to the counter and set down her books. She grabbed one of them and licked her finger before flipping through it before stopping at an appropriate page. "Look, Anthony, I've given you your dose just two days ago. You're not due for another day and a half."

The man continued to fidget in place as he looked around. "I'm hurting bad though. If you don't give it I'll go see Stewart." The man groaned out in a halfhearted attempt to con the small girl.

"Fine." Emilie relented as she reached underneath the counter and pulled out a beautiful bottle. Louise could only barely make out a sculpture of a horse on the top of the bottle. "This is only a quarter dose, enough to tide you over."

The man scooped up the bottle beaming. "Thanks, Em you're the best." The man rushed passed Louise as he left the store. Leaving the two similarly built girls alone. Her mind was racing, this couldn't have been that Emilie that the doctor was talking about. She was far too kind to be doing all of this for greed. She didn't even take any money from that man. She was always told not to judge a book by the cover, but this was different. She had read the first few pages and they only reinforced the cover.

"-I help you?" Emilie said bringing her back to reality.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked as she made her way over to the counter.

The blonde let out a small sigh. "Have you been talking to Chole by chance?"

"Chole?"

"She runs a clinic two floors up. By the way, you were looking at me I can only assume that you've been talking with her." She sighed once more. "What did she say this time."

"She." Louise felt the words die in her throat, should she really be telling her what was said behind her back. No, if she was in her situation she would want to know. "She called you a "Whore""

The blonde scoffed. "Why that no good brute of a woman!" She shouted in the soft cute voice of a child. Louise had to bite the inside of her mouth in order to stop herself from laughing. This person couldn't sound angry even if she wanted too. "I'll go write to her right now and let her know just how much of a brute she really is." The woman turned and began to stomp off.

"Wait!" Louise shouted causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks and turning towards her. "I'm looking for a potion. I was told by Chole that you might carry it."

The women shook her head and returned to the counter. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me. Ever since the falling out I've had with Chole just hearing her name can make me oh so mad."

Was this some cruel joke of the universe, having her in between another version of herself and Kirche. "I, understand better than you think." She stated.

A happy smile returned to her face. "Well, then what potion are you looking for."

"A potion of rebirth."

Emilie looked shocked for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I must have missed heard you, what did you say?"

"A potion of rebirth." She repeated.

Emilie's gaze shifted to her hands as she clasped them together. "I... I don't know what to say." The women paused as she pursed her lips. "Do you know what you're asking?" Louise shook her head. She had no clue. "The potion of rebirth... is a rare potion that is capable of curing anything thus giving it its name."

Wait, anything? What about her sister's condition? How come her parents haven't tried to get a hold of it. "If it's so powerful how come no one uses it."

"That's. A complicated question. It's a potion that has been lost to antiquity, from the time of the founder. At first, it was simply due to the fact that the recipe had been stolen. Legends say it was elves that did it but no one really knows how it went missing. When Romanians had retrieved it thousands of years later, they found that several of the ingredients had gone extinct meaning there was no way to duplicate it. The current pope at the time declared that all remaining potions of rebirth would be placed in the holy vault under the pope's palace to be saved for when the time of void mages returned. Even having one in your possession is tantamount to heresy."

Louise threw her arms out as she let her head fall back. "So, you're telling me that it's impossible to get one of those potions."

"I never said that."

"Bu-"

"Are you a Romanian?" Emilie asked out of nowhere.

"What no I'm from Tristian?" She asked confused

The blonde looked to her left and right as if checking to see if anyone was listening. Pulling out her wand she muttered a quick incantation causing the room around her to glow blue for a second before fading. She leaned in close. Way to close for Louise to be comfortable. She was glad that her mask was low as she felt a new wave of embarrassment wash over her. "Why are you looking for a potion of rebirth?" The girl in front of her asked in a deadly serious tone which killed the calm atmosphere of the shop.

Louise turned away from the alchemist. "My friend was shot, if I don't get it she'll lose her arm,"

The women simply shook her head. Had she done something wrong? What did it matter this woman didn't have it. "Your mask, raise it, let me see your face." Oh. Doing as she was told she raised her mask. "Now repeat what you just said."

"My friend was shot, if I don't get it she'll lose her arm," she repeated without question.

The smile returned to the woman's face. "You're not lying." The girl backed away from her. "I may have one in my possession."

Shock took hold of her face twisting it into what she could only assume was a funny expression if the blonde's chuckling was any indication. She briefly wondered how she got her hands on such a potion but that idea was quickly killed as she realized she rather not know the answer. hope swelled within Louise's core. She quickly got her coin pouch off of her hip and placed it on the counter.

Emilie shook her head. "I very much doubt you would have even one-tenth the cost of this potion." she paused seemingly trying to find the words. "I'm willing to part with it, but I need help with something."

"Anything!" Louise blurted out.

"If you talked with Chole she must have told you what I specialize in."

"She said that you were selling Opium to addicts in order to become rich." She asked.

"I guess I should have seen that coming," Emilie told her as she reached up and scratched the back of her head. "But what she didn't tell you is that I'm keeping these people alive. If they don't get their dosage they can end up dead from withdrawal. Sure, they're troubled but they're good people at heart, they need help and-and-and I stood up to help them, I won't deny that."

"But?" Lousie asked trying to get the girl back on topic.

She deflated as she soon got back on track. "Sorry, it's just been a stressful few weeks and I can get off track easily. Look, what I'm about to ask you isn't exactly legal."

She felt herself freeze up she would normally bend the rules for her friends, but to actually break them. Images of Tabitha's near broken body filled her head. No, she needed to do this. "What's the job."

Emilie bit her lip for a moment. She left the counter and briskly marched over to the door. Quickly locking it before turning back to her. "A few weeks ago, a man named Stewert began selling potions out of a warehouse on the six hundred and twenty-third floor. Somehow, he had learned my recipe for my opium potion and started to sell to everyone. But whereas I controlled their doses so that they would eventually be weaned off of it he doesn't care. People are ending up dead because of this man's greed so many people are ending up dead."

"Why me though, you could make a fortune off a potion like that?"

Her smile once again returned. "You look like you can handle yourself. And the way I acquired it keeps me up at night." The seriousness in women's blue eyes pierced her very soul. "Anyways, I have it on good authority that he's getting a new shipment of poppies tonight I need you to destroy it."

"This seems like a temporary solution to a long-term problem?" She questioned.

Emilie sighed. "Yes, but I'm in the process of creating an antidote to the addiction. I just need more time, if he gets that new shipment a lot more people are going to end up dead."

So she would simply be buying the girl time. She could do that. "How do you know all this?"

She turned away from her. "A man named Fredric told me, he said that he overheard the conversation while he was getting a dosage." she let out a short chortle. "The madman is using the seventh service elevator in order to avoid paying taxes on it."

"I'm sorry what?"

She immediately turned back to her. The expression on her face was something between horror and confusion. "I should have figured you weren't from around here. Give me a second." The girl raced by her and into the back of the store leaving Louise alone with the plants. Minutes passed before she returned, a long scroll in hand. She placed it on the counter top before rolling it out revelling a map of the mountain that doubled as a city.

She could hardly contain the awe at the map, if this thing was right there were more than six hundred floors to this underground city. But the odd thing was that only the first fifty on top and fifty below were mapped in any real detail. The next thing that caught her attention was the seven large shafts that ran down the mountain to the ground below. Each one was numbered by what looked to be their size. Elevator one was apparently fifty feet wide while elevator eight was only ten feet. "Where is shaft seven?"

Emilie said nothing and simply pointed to a spot on a map that was filled in by the various tunnels. "It was stricken from the original map a few hundred years ago."

"Why?"

The girl bit her lip. "I assume that you've noticed that only the first fifty floors are filled in." Louise nodded. "That would have to do with the spirits. This whole mountain used to be a great elven city back before Brimir conquered Halk for humans. Himself and his followers had begun the long process to cleanse the spirits from the city starting with the large elevators. However, during this process, Brimir was called off to deal with another elven attack in what is currently Germania. He died before he could finish the job. Ever since that day no human has gone passed the spiritual threshold without changing."

"And what happened to Shaft seven."

She simply shrugged her shoulders in response. "Who knows, all I know is that it's haunted by the spirits of elves that died in those tunnels. They things they do." she suddenly shook her head. "Forget that I said anything, do that job and I'll give you your potion."

"That." She started. "Won't be possible, I need it now, my friend only has a few hours."

Emilie scowled at her. "I'm not a fool, your friend should have at least a day."

"She doesn't!" She protested.

Emilie closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Fine, but I ask you to leave your blade with me as insurance. I can tell you value it."

"Wha-"

"Do it, Louise," Her sword suddenly cut in. She felt her heart pause, Derf never called her that. "Hand me over and get that potion to blue." She looked skeptically at Derf for a moment, before slowly pulling the sheath off of her hip and handed it to the girl. Emilie accepted it and walked into the back once again. Leaving her alone.

It felt odd to not have Derf nearby, it had been nearly two weeks since she had gotten him and only once was the sentient sword not within her reach. She rubbed her head, sure they didn't get along, but their partnership had been fruitful. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, no she had to focus, get the potion back to Tabitha do the job and leave.

"Here you go." Louise looked up to find the women setting a plain glass bottle on the counter. However, the contents of the bottle were anything but. It was as blue as the ocean with an otherworldly blue glow that reminded her of the Water spirits domain. She reached out and grabbed it. A warm feeling ran up her arms and into her core, the power she felt in her hands was nearly intoxicating. Picking it up only amplified that feeling of power.

Louise could feel herself beginning to salivate. In her hands was something that could heal her sister. Cattleya a person who was so kind to the world but hidden away for fear of death taking her. It could give her the life she had always longed for. A life outside the manor outside her lands. She could take her animals out of the house and explore the world. They could go together on vacations to exotic locations.

No. This wasn't for her, this was for Tabitha. She needed it more than her. At least for now. But the fact that there was something out there that could heal her sister. Now that was information that she could use. Her sister deserved it.

"Now the only way to get to elevator seven is through the service tunnels that connect every business and hole together. Come back here around midnight and I'll let you in." Emilie stated. She nodded not looking away from the bottle. She grabbed her coin pouch and quickly tied it back to her waist. Turning she began walking over to the door. "Oh." Emilie started causing her to stop in her tracks. "You should probably hide that, there are quite a few Romanian's in this city would kill you over it."

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Heeding the advice Louise unlocked the door and left the store completely cloaked. Perhaps she should visit Romania after bringing the secretary back to Tristian.

xXXXx

Louise pushed through the door to the clinic she founding Kirche pacing around the room as she fidgeted with her hands, faintly muttering something about "Murdering that green haired bitch." To her right she found Wardes sitting at a chair both hands were clasped together supporting his chin that rested on it.

They instantly turned towards the sound of the door opening. Kirche was the first to act, lunging towards her grabbing both her hands on her shoulders. Her face twisted between hope, disperse and fear all in a matter of seconds. "Did you get it!" She blurted out as she begun to shake her. Louise slowly raised a hand which contained the potion. The redhead's hand instantly shot from her shoulder and took it. She ran over to the door and began to bang on it half-hazardly. The door soon opened revelling the same brunette from before.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the potion. "Holy shit you actually got it." her gazed shifted over to Louise who still stood at the door of the clinic. "You are something else aren't you." She asked as she took the bottle from the redhead.

"It was nothing." She stated as she turned away as her face heated up.

"Well, I'll go give this to her, with this, she should be up by this afternoon," Chole said as she ducked back into the room.

Before Louise could celebrate the news, she was suddenly tackled by Kirche who pulled her into a tight hug. "It wasn't just nothing Louise. You've given Tabitha her arm back, I can't even think of what could have happened if she had lost it." Louise couldn't quite explain it but Kirche was putting out a nice warm aura. The same one that she felt when she was around Cattleya back at home. She returned the hug as a smile crept up onto her face.

A sudden cough from there side brought the pair back to reality. They soon parted as they turned to the source, finding Wardes now standing with his arms crossed. "I'm sorry to break up this moment but we need to plan out our next move."

Kirche gave him a confused look as she placed a hand on her hip. "I thought we were going to head up to the command ship."

Louise looked at the redhead confused. "What?" She turned back to Wardes who simply nodded.

"That was what I wanted to discuss with you. I believe that the best place to keep Longueville would be on the command ship under the watchful eye of your mother. Gods knows she's been wanting a Reconquista prisoner." He turned to Kirche. "And since the Gallian will be up by this afternoon we'll be able to head out tonight."

Louise felt herself deflate slightly as the terms of her deal hit her full force. "Uh, no we have to stay overnight. Tabitha was just shot we should give her some rest." She lied.

The Viscount looked at her with a mixture of shock and confusion. "My Louise, please see reason. We don't have the facility to hold Longueville. If we leave tonight we'll be able to make the transfer in three days' time."

Anger suddenly filled Louise's body. "Who the fuck put you in charge of this mission!" Louise said in a strange male Albionese voice that wasn't her own. The room grew silent as she realized just what she had said. She clamped down on her mouth with both hands. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

A flash of anger appeared on his face before he quickly composed himself. "I understand. The stress must be getting to you." He took a deep breath no doubt trying to contain his anger. "Fine, we'll do it your way. We'll be leaving first this tomorrow. However, we'll have to find a place to sleep for the night.

xXXXx

 _ **So a pretty slow chapter as I set up some possible plot lines for the future**_ _ **I hope you all enjoyed my new take on La Rochelle. Would anyone be interested in me writing the history of this version of it in the next chapter?**_

 _ **Not much to really say in the end. But I do have a question. I want to write an interlude between upcoming chapters and I want to ask you guys whose backstory I should explore. Jung, Karin, Kirche or Tabitha. This won't be the size of an actual chapter, but it would be a small glimpse into what they were up to before the story took place.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you have a wonderful day/night.**_


	18. Chapter 18: The Flower

Louise's eyes slowly opened revealing her pink iris's. She gazed up at the rock ceiling that hung above her. A small candle chandelier hung just off to the side of her vision, which was illuminated by moonlight that poured into the room from several windows to the outside world. She looked to her side finding the Viscount sleeping on a couch on the other side of the room by a window.

Looking back at the ceiling she called down her mask. Looking into the top left corner of her vision, she found the small blinking clock that was barely noticeable which said eleven thirty, giving her just under a half hour to meet up with Emilie at her shop.

The day spent in La Rochelle had been for all intensive purposes uneventful. She had spent most of the day exploring the upper levels near the port. The underground market was something else. Housed in a large cavernous room that had one of its walls missing which lead out into the ports proper allowing anyone anywhere in the market to see the ships leaving and entering port.

To say it was packed was an understatement. You had the people from the city buying goods. You had the people leaving the ships to go spend their money at the various casinos are bars that dotted the upper levels of the city, and you had the people leaving to go serve their country. She loved it there. The energy she felt in the room was palpable, reminding her of Tristian. However, the items found there were more exotic, no doubt because this was Gallia's principal port.

Albionese wind rifles that used wind stones instead of gunpowder and could fire several shots before needing to reload. Romanian holy water and other religious paraphernalia. Germanian steel and liquor as well as Tristian wine. Everything anyone would ever need was here. This allowed her to pick up several things that she needed. The first item she sought out was a new wand. She had been a fool to have left hers at the academy. It had been a mistake she had regretted since it happened which was only made worse because she was trudging around with a wand holster and no wand to put in it.

The next thing she looked for was another belt and a dagger holster, which she got for a steal after overhearing a man complaining that the holster he purchased was broken. From what she had seen of the holster, the leather strap that would hold the knife to her belt had broken off making the thing almost entirely useless, this, however, didn't mean it wasn't an easy fix, on the contrary, this is something she could sew up in a few minutes given the material. Which was precisely what she did, buying it for less than half the original price. She then obtained a sewing kit for a few extra coins saving her quite the amount of gold in the end.

But even while she enjoyed the sights of the city something ate at the back of her mind. That voice that had come out of her mouth. Just who was it? She had a couple of ideas, most notably the person that she had seen after taking that antidote.

This unsure feeling was made worse by the fact that Derf wasn't with her. She had no one to speak with on this matter no one to help her think through this. She had left the large market soon after this, returning to find Wardes had already gotten the group two rooms, one for them, as well as one for Kirche and Tabitha if she was feeling up for it.

Louise let out a small quiet sigh as she threw off the covers. Planting both her boots on the floor next to the box of destruction. She slowly stood up to her full height. They had gotten the two most expensive rooms in the inn they were staying at, and it showed. From their room, they were able to see the ports as late-night shipments of both men and supplies arrived. Not only was the view worth the money but the room itself was incredible well-furnished, Romanian silver pine was no doubt a favourite among the designer as almost every single piece of wooden furniture was made of the stuff, from the cubanite to the bed which was covered in silk covers. Which was why she slept on a towel and used a plain wool blanket, so as not to get the expensive comforter dirty.

Walking over to the door. She passed by a bound and gagged Longueville that sat on her knees in the center of the room. Dried blood marred the green-haired women's face from the interrogation Wardes had performed soon after she had returned. She ignored the sleeping women, and continued on, grabbing her bow and a quiver full of arrows off of a nearby table on the way.

Reaching the door, she quietly opened it. The torchlight the filled the hallways poured into the room. She took one last look at Wardes who was still thankfully asleep. Stepping out into the hall, she gently closed the door as a small smile formed on her face.

"So where are you going?" The sudden voice of Kirche said startling her. Spinning around she found Kirche standing cross-armed against the wall. She wore her armour devoid of the metal plates leaving her in her blue coat pants and boots. Her hair had been fixed from the day before now done up in a braided ponytail no doubt to make wearing her helmet more comfortable.

"What do you want Kirche?" She groaned. "I thought you were busy taking care of Tabitha?"

"She's sleeping." The redhead pushed herself off the wall. "Flame is watching her."

"So, he found his way here." She started relieved. "But you still haven't answered my first question."

She let out a small sigh. "Something is troubling you. I'm wondering what that could be?"

She let out a small forced chuckle. "What do you mean? Everything's fine, Tabitha is healed, and we'll be leaving in the morning."

Kirche shook her head at the answer. It became all too apparent to the pink haired girl that she was not buying it. "Even with the mask down, you're still a terrible liar." She pointed to her hip where Derf usually sat. "Your sword, where is it?"

"What do you mean, I just left Derf back in my room."

"Yet here you are with your bow." Kirche began to circle her glaring at her. Those brown eyes of her piercing all of her defences. "Not only that but you didn't have it back at the clinic when you got that potion? So, this leads me to wonder, did you trade it for the potion."

Her eyes widen in shock. "What!" She shouted as she turned towards the redhead.

"Shhh." She scolded bringing a finger to her lips as she leaned in close. "Tabitha is sleeping."

"Sorry," Louise responded in a meek voice. "But no, I didn't trade him for the potion. I just-" She felt the words die in her throat. Could she even tell her? What would she think?

"You owe them a favour," Kirche said out of nowhere.

"What? No, who would I owe a favour too." She nervously chuckled.

Kirche's eyes narrowed. "Whoever you got that potion from, I'm guessing you told them how serious a case you were dealing with, and they took your sword as collateral."

Her shoulders slumped the jig was up. "Ok, you're right, I'm heading there to do what she asked me to do." She told her with a sigh. "Can I go now?"

"Not until you let me grab my things."

"What." Her eye's shot wide once more.

"Tabitha is my greatest friend. It would be wrong if I didn't help you with whatever it is you're doing."

Louise looked to her left and right, making sure that no one could overhear what she was about to say next. "You know this is job isn't exactly legal."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've done something like this."

She thought it over in her head. Kirche was capable, and her fire magic would no doubt make destroying those poppies easier. But what happens if their caught, she could cloak and run away, but how would Kirche get away. After getting Tabitha hurt could, she truly allow her to join her. She let out a small groan. Fine, grab your things and meet me in the downstairs lobby." She realized that no matter what she had said Kirche would end up joining her.

"Just give me a few minutes." The redhead briskly walked over to her room and opened the door. Louise was able to catch the sight of Tabitha sleeping soundly as she held onto Flame like an oversized stuffed animal just before the door closed. With a sigh, she walked down the cramped hallway of the inn.

xXXXx

The pair walked through the winding tunnels of the city's Six-hundred and sixty-third floor. The tunnels were empty for the most part, save for the occasional drunk, who was either stumbling around or passed out drunk on the floor. Usually, there would be a guard at their side trying to get the sleeping person up on their feet.

Kirche couldn't help but draw comparisons with Germania although it would have been worse back in her home country. Especially the outskirts of the country where hope for a better life was slim. People getting drunk then wandering off into the swamp, forest or mountain never to be seen again. But at least the man had a guard trying to wake him instead of a thief stealing his belongings.

A small smile formed on her face as she recounted the advice Kraft had given her. 'If you go to a bar in Germania make sure you spend all of your money as to make whoever's robbing you as mad as an old mountain bull.' It was advice she rarely followed, with how much it cost to get herself drunk, she rarely if ever had enough money to follow the advice.

The smile ran away from her face as the thoughts of her old comrades danced through her head. What were they up to? were they still alive? Considering just how many mages were in their group, it wouldn't surprise her if they were part of the quarantine effort. If they were heading to Albion, perhaps they would run into them. It would be nice to see the old group again. We'll see everyone except Lothar; he was always weird. He took too much joy in his kills.

Louise suddenly stopped at the door causing Kirche to bump into her. "Hey."

Seemingly not caring about being bumped into Louise began to look around the empty torch-lit hallway. "We're here." She whispered before lightly walking over to the other side of the door as she continued to look around making sure they weren't being watched.

Crouching down low as to make herself less visible she leaned in closer to the pink-haired girl. "So, what's the job? Are we ransacking this place, stealing secrets, beating up some guy who owes money?"

"Shhh." The girl scolded as she raised a fist to the door. She gave it three quick knocks. The pair waited as they continued to watch out for any possible threat. The door soon opened. Kirche could feel shocked build within her core as she turned to face the new arrival. The blonde-haired women before her looked so much liked Louise it was almost haunting. Everything save for the blonde hair, the metal staff that she carried and what seemed to be a priest's outfit.

"you're early." The blonde said in a soft, cute voice.

Kirche mentally flinched, this was who they were working for? This was the woman, no, girl that had asked them to do something on the wrong side of the law. She had to suppress a chuckle as ideas as to what the job was, filled her mind 'I needed you to break into a person's house and saved the puppies he abuses' Or, 'mother sold my stuffed animal, and I need you to steal it back.' She quickly discarded those ideas, if the potion she gave Louise was any indication she was running an alchemy shop. So most likely this will be a simple sacking of a competing shop.

"Who's this?" The blonde questioned as she turned towards her.

"She is a friend to the girl you helped. She wishes to help me pay you back." Louise briskly answered before she could even get a word out.

Kirche crossed her arms as she lightly scowled at the girl. "You know I'm more than capable of speaking on my own." She quipped receiving an elbow to the gut as payment which was thankfully blocked by her chest plate. But it proved to be less useful than initially thought as she still doubled over clenching her stomach. She let out a small short grunt that echoed under her helmet. Just how strong was Louise with that suit on?

The blonde examined her as she stood back up. Her eyes telling all she needed to know. She didn't trust her. "Is this true?"

"Uh," Kirche felt confused by the question. How was she supposed to answer this if she didn't trust her? She looked to Louise for help, who simply shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, Tabitha is my best friend, if anything were to happen to her, I wouldn't know what to do." Might as well tell the truth and hope for the best."

The blonde narrowed her eyes. There was no doubt in Kirche's mind that she didn't believe her. "Take off your helmet."

"What?" She asked as she looked to Louise for help who merely stood there with her arms crossed seemingly bored with their current situation.

"Just do it," Louise said, no doubt rolling her eyes under that mask of her.

Doing as she was told, she reached up and pulled her helmet off. Allowing the blonde to see her face. "Now could you repeat what you just said?" Again, confused she turned toward Louise who gestured her to keep going.

"Tabitha is my best friend; if anything were to happen to her I Wouldn't know what to do?"

The blonde slowly closed her eyes as a warm smile perched itself on her face. "You're not lying." She looked back to Louise with that same warm. "Come on in. We have much to do and not much time." The blonde walked back into the shop, allowing the pair to enter.

Kirche stared on in awe at the indoor garden that lined the walls of the entrance; she had seen some remarkably similar things back in her old guild hall thanks to Adela's odd obsession. But never to the extent of this. Walking past it, she found cabinets full of differently shaped potions, each one containing liquid of varying colours.

The blonde lead them past a beautiful counter and into the back of the store. Cauldrons lined every wall, each of them glowed in a different colour as smoke bubbled out of them. In the center of the room was a table covered in paper. On closer inspection, each one was either an order or some recipe for her to follow. Underneath it was a long horizontal safe that most likely housed the financial documents of the store.

The group briskly passed the room and entered what appeared to be a large storage room. Barrels and boxes lined the shelves of the new room they found themselves in. On the far side of the room were two large reinforced doors. On the left side of the room was a desk covered in papers. As well as a bird-shaped plague mask. Its fabric looked thick and tough no doubt able to handle anything thrown at it save for combat. The two small pieces of glass were foggy and out of focus. Kirche could only imagine what it would be like to wear such a thing.

But what caught the pair's attention was a two-wheeled-cart in the center of the room both of its handles were up in the air due to the six barrels of gods knows what in the back. "Have you told her what we're going to be doing?" The blonde said as she made her way to the cart.

"I, haven't. Not yet." Louise let out a small sigh as she turned to Kirche. "We need to take out a shipment of flowers that are heading up a haunted elevator shaft."

She just stared at the girl; they had to be joking, all this for flowers? and what was that about a haunted elevator shaft? Just what had she walked into? "You had dealt with odder jobs." She muttered to herself before quickly composing herself. "So, what's in the barrels?" She asked as she walked up to the cart in an attempt to forget the fact that they were breaking the law to destroy flowers.

"There is no doubt going to be people guarding the elevator shaft. These barrels are filled with sleeping gas. We open the door push the cart in and in a few minutes, everyone will hopefully be asleep."

"hopefully?" Louise asked.

The blonde began to fidget with her hands no doubt nervous. "Well, you see the room surrounding the shaft is quite large, so it will take time for the gas to disperse, then if someone sees it, they may deal with it. Then if they have a water mage wi-"

"Alright, I get it, things can go wrong," Kirche told her. "What can you tell us about the room."

The blonde took a deep breath to compose herself. "The shaft is quite large, but these barrels aren't supposed to get rid of everyone. The issue is that the shipment is most likely going to stop twenty floors below where we're heading. So, what we're going to do is put the guards to sleep. Walk in, and destroy Stewart's shipment without having to deal with his men."

"Wait," Louise cut in causing Emilie to turn towards her. "Won't the guards notice the chains moving?"

"Well, yes, but that entire pit has enough taboo surrounding it that they will probably write it off as Spirits running amuck."

Kirche looked back and forth between the two girls before rubbing her head at the sheer idiocy of this plan. "So, your entire plan is running on the assumption that the guards won't think moving chains is weird?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that the service elevator showed up empty."

She could only shake her head in disappointment. She had heard of these things before. Elevators, old elven technology. It was something that was tough for humans to recreate but they were getting better at. They had even started to pop up in Germania in the houses of nobles with too much money on their hands. "Seems simple enough. Go in, put everyone to sleep, smash flowers, job's done."

"That is the gist of the plan yes."

A smile formed on her face as she pushed the concerns from her mind, these were merely town guards she could take them if anything went wrong and if nothing did go wrong, she would have a nice calm job that just involved smashing things that belonged to someone else. The perfect stress reliever after the day she had yesterday. "Then let's go and get this over with!" She turned away from her and dashed over to the double doors.

"Wait." The blonde quickly shouted. Causing her to stop in her tracks. Turning she found the blonde standing before holding a potion in each hand. "Here, drink this, it'll stop the sleeping gas from affecting you." She told her as she outstreched a hand.

She glared at the bottle before her for a moment. Grabbing it, she pulled the cork off and downed the entire thing in a single swig. She scowled and shook her head as she pulled the bottle away from her lips. It had a bitter taste that she really wasn't a fan of. Looking back, she found Louise staring at her. Her mask was obscuring her face, but something told her she wasn't going to take the potion.

"You too." The girl said as she approached Louise with another potion.

Louise waved her hands in front of her body attempting to keep the blonde away. "No, no that's fine."

"You need to take it."

"It's fine," She repeated as she backed away from the girl.

"I'm not going to repeat this. You need to take this, or you're going to fall asleep in that room."

Louise backed up into one of the shelves causing the entire thing to rock back and forth from the sudden bump. "My suit, it blocks out the gas," she stated as she pressed her body into the shelf attempting to get away from the girl approaching her.

Kirche could only watch as the two girls chased each other around the room continued as they yelled orders to each other. She could feel the onset of a headache forming in her head. "Louise just drink the potion so we can do this job and you can get your sword back." She told them as she began to rub her temples.

Louise simply stared at the girl in front of her, before finally letting out a deep breath. Raising her mask, she reached out and grabbed the potion from the girl before quickly drinking it. Scowling at the bitter taste, she wiped her mouth with the back of her armoured glove.

"To think you act like a child even at a time like this," Kirche remarked

"Hey!"

Before the argument could get any worse, the double doors opened. Turning the pair saw Emilie struggling to pull the cart out into a dark hallway. They looked at each other before rushing out to help her.

xXXXx

Marie was not having a good time. She had been born a bastard to the local lord. Her mother, being a maid, was simply fired when she had gotten pregnant meaning that she had grown up poor. Her mother had worked so hard to provide for her, eventually getting a tutor to help her practice her magic. as soon as she was old enough she joined the guards and began climbing the ranks of the La Rochelle guard trying her hardest to attain a title of some kind to make her life easier. But here she was, on night duty in a damp, dark tunnel under the upper-level gardens. What was even the point of this, this shaft was nothing but a warehouse with its own set of guards? She knew the reason why with so many mages in the city they would need extra hands in case someone would break in.

She let out a small sigh. She had to admit that she was luckier than most noble bastards, for one she had magic running through her veins, so that already put her above the cloth than most people in her situation. Not only that but she was a line level earth mage with only basic tutoring, something nearly unheard of.

"Look, Maire, all I'm saying is that the entire royal family goes on the expedition and only the king and a select few of his men return. Doesn't that sound fishy to you?" And then there was her partner.

A sigh of annoyance escaped her lips. Alexander was a peculiar case in the guard he was said to be one of the best partners to have during boring late-night shifts, so when she was assigned to work with him, she was naturally unsure what to think. But ever since they had arrived at her post, he had been rattling off crazy conspiracy theories about the world. She could see why some would find it humorous, but she just didn't find it funny.

She had wondered why he was still on the guard, but she knew the answer. Alexander maybe borderline crazy, but he was a big guy. Both in the physical sense and the aura that surrounded him. The man could break up fights just by showing up. Something that her slim, diminutive five-foot-five frame failed to do.

The pair currently sat on a couple of boxes they "Borrowed" from the elevator shaft, their helmets rested beside them. A fire was set up in the center of the tunnel giving them something they could use to cook their rations. Light wasn't that big of an issue thanks to the fact that fresh torches were placed along each wall of the tunnel.

"I have no doubt in my mind that King Joseph is working for or with the elves," Alexander stated as he leaned forward to emphasize his point.

Resting her arm on her knee, she placed her chin in her hand bored beyond all belief. "And what makes you say that," Marie responded in a tone that would hopefully let Alex know that she was uninterested in his conversation.

"Isn't it obvious." Marie sighed, it was clear he didn't catch it. "That giant sphere of ice that just so happened to appear on the island they were visiting. No one in Halk has that type of power, no matter how many of those conniving nobles try to make us believe they do."

He suddenly paused breaking Marie from her bored trance. Looking over she found him staring off into nothing. Her scowl was soon replaced with concern as she followed his eyes, finding nothing but a dark hallway. "Alex? are you ok?"

He said nothing, but his face twisted in a scowl of pure rage, his nostrils flared as he clenched his fists. "I figured it out." He muttered to himself.

"What?" Marie said softly as she continued to look around for any signs of trouble.

"I narrowed it down to two options. Ether Joseph himself is an elf in disguise. Or his body was taken over by an elf shapeshifter."

She fell back; her face twisted into a scowl once more. It was just another one of his crazy idea's. "Ok, Alexander, let me explain something, Elves, they have pointed ears. Joseph last time I check doesn't. Second Joseph went to that island on his own, how would the elves know that he was going to go to that island in the first place."

"Well, what about his magic? Have you ever seen him use it?"

She pressed her hands into the palms of her hands. "No royal family ever uses their magic in public!"

Alexander could only laugh. "next you're going to say that lead pipes are good."

"Oh, my gods shut up."

Before he could retort, they were interrupted by the distinct sound of wooden wheels that echoed off the rock walls. And from the way it sounded, it was carrying some pretty heavy stuff. The pair looked at each other before standing up. They put on their helmets ready and pulled out their weapons, a sword wand for Marie and a war hammer for Alexander.

The sound drew closer as they scanned the tunnel ahead of them. The torches suddenly went out, blanketing the pair in a thick darkness that bit into their very soul. Quickly composing herself, she called forth a small totem from a ground which ignited at its full height, illuminating the area around them but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Time seemed to drag on as the pair waited for whatever was coming their way. Her hands grew sweaty as thoughts of what could be approaching her danced through her head. It wasn't unheard of for orcs to take up residence in the parts of the mountain that humans dared not visit. But it's been years since orcs had been seen this high up.

The sound drew even closer but remained out of view. What about earth dragons. Her mouth grew dry as she entertained that thought. They haven't been seen since the time of Brimir, but what if they returned. Images of the giant serpent-like beast filled her head. The acidic miasma they breath would make quick work of whatever she created. It was alm-.

Before she was able to complete that thought, she felt something kick at the back of her knee, sending her to the ground. She attempted to look towards her unseen attacker, but a silvery-black arm flickered into existence that wrapped around her neck. Her eyes widened as she was pulled back.

"Marie!" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alexander wind back his Warhammer ready to smash her attacker. A chain suddenly broke out of the wall and wrapped around the neck of the war hammer stopping it in its tracks. Alexander struggled with the chain, pulling and pulling but the chain showed no signs of giving. She opened her mouth to chant a spell that could help them in her time of need. But as soon as she did, two metal fingers tore through her helmet and inserted themselves into her mouth forcing her mouth open.

She tried and tried to utter the incantation that could free them as she clawed at the attacker's arm, but it was no use. The taste of iron filled her mouth, she had to wonder if this was just her attackers' hand or was she bleeding. As her vision, faded she caught one last glance of Alexander being choked by another chain.

Her world was bathed in darkness as death no doubt approached. This wasn't fair, why did this have to happen now she was so close.

xXXXx

Louise tossed the now limp body aside, as Kirche walked out of the darkness, the chains disintegrated into dust. "No matter how many times you do that in front of me, I'll never find the ability to go invisible any less creepy."

Louise gave her a passing glance, saying nothing as she turned to Emilie who pulled the cart in from out of the darkness. Her entire body trembled at the sight of the two unconscious guards. "Founder are they dead?"

"I don't know about Louise, but the man I handled is simply asleep," Kirche explained before turning back to the pink haired girl. "I'm curious where did you learn to do that?"

Louise just shrugged. "I sort of just knew it." She explained to the best of her ability. She honestly had no clue where she had learned that choke hold. It just sort of felt right. But it all came back to her suit. She had done many a thing on this journey that she shouldn't have known how to do. Muskets, pistols, the 'Swarmer' all of which she had no previous knowledge on how to use yet here she was using them.

"We can worry about this later. We have other things to worry about right now." Emilie broke in, breaking her from her musings. The group turned towards the two large metal doors that blocked their path; a large metal chain hung from the doors. "They usually use golems to open and close the door during the day.

Louise walked over to the door, and gave it a small shove, testing the strength of it. "Then how do the guards inside get in and out?" She asked. Grabbing hold of the chain, she examined it. This looked remarkably similar to the vault that was used to Henrietta. Had this been the inspiration for it? It sure looked like it.

"Most likely through the civilian entrances the floor above and below us," Emilie responded from behind her as she set the cart down.

"And, how did you expect to get this open?" Kirche cut in.

"Well." Her hands soon came together as she began to fidget. "When I saw Miss Louise in that suit of armour I had assumed that she was a mighty mage that could get this door open."

Kirche huffed as she crossed her arms. "All of this on a hunch. Something's telling me not to bet on you in the future."

"Well I mean there was a reason why I became an alchemist. Tactics aren't my strong suit."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble but I doubt Louise will be able to help you in that regard."

Louise felt no reason to interject in the conversation. She had been wrong in her analysis. Her magic wouldn't help her here. But she doubted that this door would prove to be much of a problem.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Grabbing the chain in both hands. She brought it over her shoulder as she spun around. She forced herself forward as she pulled with all the might her suit could muster. The metal screeched against the ground as she pulled, no doubt ruining the element of surprise that Emilie had wanted. She grit her teeth as she forced herself forward each step was a battle of their own. Her arms and legs burned as the opening grew wider.

Shouts could be heard from inside the shaft causing the group to tense up. "Miss Louise!" A concerned Emilie shouted as the last semblance of her plan burned in front of her. Not waiting for the combat to come to them, Kirche sprang into action. She slammed the hatchet into the barrel before quickly yanking it out.

Purple smoke rose out of the new opening. "Ventus!" she shouted. A new wind shot out of the axe and into the barrel forcing it all out. She quickly adjusted her aim and casted again carrying the smoke into the elevator shaft. The blonde simply stood there, her face frozen in fear. Was this her first fight. "Emilie, help."

The blonde quickly shook away her fear as she came back to her senses and sprang into action using a water spear to pierce holes into the rest of the barrels. Smoke flowed out of each of them which was then carried into the room by the same wind that Kirche had used.

As her energy reserved emptied she let go of the chain. Her breathing was ragged as sweat poured down her face. She turned back to the door as her energy pool began to refill once more she wondered how heavy that door was. The shouts began to quiet as the gas did its thing. Louise took this opportunity she rushed into the room, with how much noise they had made there would be people coming from the other floors.

However, upon entering she found nothing of the sort. She found herself in awe of the sheer size of the dimly-lit, circular room she found herself in. All around her were large metal shelves that dwarfed her in sheer size which looked to be at least two stories tall filled with large wooden boxes making this room look more like a warehouse than anything else. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the large circular hole in the middle of the room. Most of the pit was covered in a wooden platform except for a relatively large square hole in the center. Moving chains were placed at each corner no doubt carrying the poppies to their destination. She looked past it finding another set of doors that were just barely visible since there were very few torches in the room

Above her was a set of walkways that formed an x over the room. She walked forward passed the sleeping bodies of the guards and towards the hole in the floor, but stopped just short of the edge. The wood that covered the hole looked almost rotted and were spread apart just enough to allow her to see through it and into the deep dark abyss below her. Her heart sank into her gut as her legs began to tremble. It was deep, oh so deep. She stared down at the darkness beneath her as it stared back.

"Louise what's wrong?" The voice of Kirche called out from behind her, breaking her from her stupor.

Turning back to Kirche she answered her. "No, I'm fine." Turning back to the wooden platform, she took a deep breath. The guards here look taller and bigger than her, if they could walk on this without fear she should be able to do the same. Taking yet another deep breath, she walked forward. The wood groaned under her weight but didn't do anything else. Swallowing her fear, Louise stepped forward as the wood creaked once more.

After several great panic-inducing steps, she finally made it to the hole. Looking over the edge, she was greeted by a robust upwards current of air that almost blew her back. Pushing through it, she looked down into the darkness. She found a similar set up below her. A cat walked that formed around the square hole, large shelves taking up most of the unused space. But something was off. The people that worked in the warehouse below her worked, moving cargo around for the next day's customers. But they didn't make any noise. Two men were sitting on a shelf that was relatively close to her, eating some food as they talked. But she heard nothing.

"Shouldn't the people working on the other floors have heard us?" Louise asked no one in particular.

"No, when the elves built this they made sure that whatever work was going on didn't annoy the people who wished to ride the elevator. Thus, they used some type of silencing magic to audibly separate every floor from each other. At least that's what the schoolers think." The voice of Emilie answered.

The wood creaked behind her, as Kirche walked up beside her and gazed over the edge with her. "So how are we going to destroy this thing Em?" The redhead asked.

"Em?" She questioned

Louise scowled underneath her helmet. "There's no point in questioning the nickname Emilie, once Kirche finds one she'll never let it go."

"That's not true." She cried as she placed a hand on her heart overdramatizing the moment. "It has been at least two weeks since I've called you a zero."

Louise chuckled. "Of course, you wouldn't want a person who beat you in a fight to be a zero now would you."

"need I remind you that I was wounded only two days before that fig-"

"Can, we get back on topic?" Emilie cut in.

The pair turned and stared at the girl. Kirche was the first to act with a small sigh. "The master tactician is right Louise; we should probably get back to work. What's the plan boss."

Louise quickly brought up her mask to adequately cover her mouth as she suppressed the urge to laugh. Emilie grew red enough to be seen through the darkness. "I was going to ask you to use your destructive magic to destroy it, but after the door, I'm not so sure."

Kirche placed a hand on her hip as she thought it over. "Well, destroying a wooden platform is a lot simpler than moving that large door." Her gaze shifted back to the pit causing an unsettling feeling to arise in her stomach. "Louise, why don't you use that freak suit of yours to figure out how far away the elevator is?"

"Right." Turning around she activated her Tactical visor as she gazed over the edge. "Five thousand one hundred and two feet away and closing."

Kirche let out a small sigh as she clicked her tongue. "My spells will fizzle out long before they reach it. What about you Louise."

"You've seen my accuracy."

"Right~" She trailed off. Her view shifted up to the silent chains. Pulling out her Hatchet, she gave it a small tap with the flat side. "What about these Em?"

"That won't work. They're enchanted with spirit magic making them nearly indestructible." Emilie replied.

"But what are they connected to?"

"That would be-." The blonde's voice trailed off.

Confused Kirche turned to the blond finding her trembling. "Emilie?"

She shook herself out of that state and gave her a confused look. "What?"

"You were going to tell me where these chains go, but you just froze up."

"Oh." She looked genially shocked as if she didn't remember starting that conversation. "I'm sorry, I just have some bad memories surround those creatures."

"What creatures?"

The girls gaze shifted to her feet as she began to fidget with her hands once more. "Cave cows."

"Cave cows?" Louise asked as she turned away from the hole.

The blonde's breathing picked up in pace. "Terrible, horrible demonic creatures that the elves employed to run this city of theirs."

Kirche glanced at Louise for a brief moment as questions filled her head, she pushed back her curiosity. It was apparent that she didn't want to talk about it, and she would respect it. She brought up a hand to her helmet and began to scratch her chin. "That still leaves us with the question. How are we going to destroy that shipment?" Her eyes scanned the environment as she let out a small hum. They eventually settled onto a metal box that was covered in chains which rested near a wall on a low shelf. A smile formed on her face as she raced over to it. "Louise come here."

As she got closer to the box, she noticed the Albonese royal symbol on the side. Her smile grew wider; this was a jackpot Albionese goods were expensive even before the quarantine now that trade has died, it makes these items worth all that much more. Reaching the box, she quickly examined a small piece of paper that was plastered on the front of it which specified where it was supposed to go. A scowl formed on the redhead's face as she read the childish name of the recipient 'Master at arms Mike Hunt.' but it also said that it was shipped only a week ago which all but confirmed her suspicion that this was smuggled out of Albion and by the fact that whatever is in this box needs to be surrounded in metal, it all but confirmed that this was very valuable.

She looked around once more and found a lock that held all the chains together. Pulling out her Hatchet she aimed the end of it at the lock that held all the chains together and let loose a torrent of fire. "Kirche, what are you doing!?" Louise shouted from behind her.

"Grabbing us, a souvenir." She said through her teeth as she pooled more willpower into her spell. The fire grew in ferocity. Several seconds later, she pulled her hatchet away as the torrent ended. The chains still held onto the lock but were now red hot. The smile returned to her face as she struck the lock with her Hatchet, cutting the now weakened metal with ease. The rest of the chains fell off on their own, allowing the redhead to get at the valuable contents within.

"Kirche this is wrong, we're supposed to be destroying the elevator not stealing other people's things," Louise shouted as she walked up behind her.

Kirche paused as a scowl formed on her face. Turning around she faced the girl. moving over to the side of the box, she placed an elbow on the top of the box. "Look Louise, mind telling me what that symbol is?" she asked as she pointed to the large royal symbol with her hatchet.

"Founder," She said breathlessly, the mask hid her face, but Kirche could tell that she was in a state of shock. "You're stealing from the Albionese royal family.

She shook her head. "Tell me when was the last thing anything was imported from Albion?"

"Really?" She asked as she placed a hand on her hip. When Kirche said nothing, she slumped her shoulders and continued. "Three months ago, before the Quarantine went up."

Kirche smiled behind her helmet. "Well," She tapped the box with her hatchet. "The shipping documents for this box says it was shipped just over a week ago. Now, what does that tell you?"

"That this is a fake?"

"Exactly, which means that as high-class adventures it is our duty to confiscate and destroy these goods." She quickly turned back to the box and placed two hands on the cover, and swiftly removed it. She stared in awe at the contents of the box, rows of metal musket stocks and barrels filled the box. Grabbing one she pulled it out. It was incredibly light compared to the muskets she was used to handling.

There were very few differences, and it looked like it should have weighed more. The metal stock should have easily added several pounds to the gun, not to mention that second metal barrel that ran along the side of the primary firing barrel.

"An Albonese wind rifle!" Louise shouted from behind her. Turning she found Louise examine a rifle of her own.

A sly smirk made its way onto the redhead's face. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen Valliere."

"Hello?" A barely audible voice said.

The girl turned towards her. "Hey, as you said, we'll be destroying these things." She grew small. "I just saw one at the market today, I wanted to get a closer look, but the seller said that I couldn't touch it."

"Hello?" The same barely audible voice repeated.

"Why so interested in firearms Valliere."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Calling me Valliere, it makes me sound old."

"You still haven't answered my questioned."

Her gaze shifted back to the gun in her hand. "If orcs are going to start brandishing guns then I'll need to do the same in order to lev-" The pair were suddenly blanketed in water. Turning they found Emilie glaring at them.

"Can we please focus on destroying the shipment?" The blonde begged. She looked almost ready to cry.

"Say, Louise?" Kirche asked as she shook the water off of her arms.

"Yes, Kirche."

"You feel, like we've been in this situation before?"

"Now that you mentioned it yes."

"Well then let's get this done." Kirche turned back to the box. Grabbing one more rifle from the box, she grabbed the top of the box and placed it back onto it. "Louise, I need you to carry this thing back to the hole."

The girl turned to her in shock. "What! Why me?"

"Because you showed us that you're extremely strong when you opened that large door. Meaning that this should be nothing to you."Kirche explained.

She pointed to the box in bewilderment. "You, want me to move that box." Moving her hand, she pointed to the wood that surrounded the pit. "Over, to that hole, making me walk on top of that wood that looks like it's about to give way." When Kirche nodded she let out a small groan as she approached the box. Placing her rifle on her back next to her bow she walked forwarded. Reaching the box, she adjusted herself. Crouching down she grabbed both sides of the box.

Kirche watched as Louise's suit turned red, as she pulled the box out from the shelf. When the box was sufficiently out Louise slid her hands underneath the box, and picked it up angling herself to better carry the oversized box. Turning she stomped off towards the hole but soon stopped at the edge where stone became wood. "What's wrong Louise?" Kirche shouted.

"The wood is going to collapse." She replied through her teeth.

"No it won't, if it does, I'll just catch you," Kirche said as she walked up to the wooden platform.

"So miss Kirche," Emilie asked from behind her.

She turned towards the blonde. "Hmm?"

"What is your plan?"

"Well." She pointed her hatchet over to Louise who was struggling with the box right next to the hole. "Yeah, just set it down there." she turned back to Emilie who silently watched the process. "you see that box is pretty heavy, so what I was thinking, was that we just drop it down the shaft and hope it destroys the shipment."

Turning Kirche found Louise slowly placing the box at the edge of the pit, before moving and looking back over the side of the pit. Walking forward She joined the pink haired girl. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, a short, small scream was heard from behind them.

As she turned to see if Emilie was fine, Kirche caught a glimpse of two rocks being hurled towards them. One of them impacted Louise in the chest, sending her flying into the pit. while the other one was swiftly deflected by the musket in the redhead's hands. "Louise!" Kirche shouted as she spun and stretched out a hand to save her friend. But it was too late. The chain that she had summoned wasn't fast enough. She watched as she fell off into the dark void below.

Gritting her teeth, she turned towards the source of the boulder. A brown-haired man who looked to be in his late twenties stood in front of her, in an immaculate brown suit and tie, his hands were placed behind his back, adding to his aura of seriousness. The man's hazel eyes locked on to her. "I was wondering what all the ruckus was, but to find people conspiring against my employers." He said in a calm, neutral tone as if this was merely another day for him.

Didn't Emilie say that everything they did was silenced? How had this man figured out they were up to something? Moreover, how had this man gotten behind them without them noticing? Tossing the now useless rifle aside she lowered her body as she readied herself for combat, if this pompous man were looking for a fight she would give it to him. Letting out a battle cry she lunged forward as she readied her hatchet to strike.

The man only smiled enraging her further. The earth beneath her began to shake. As a pilled formed in front of her, she had wanted to cut through it using her fire magic, but then it talked. "Miss Kirche, please help me." Stopping her charge, she took another look at the pillar, finding Emilie embedded in it. Her head only partially poked out of the top of the rock formation. "Help... me..." Her jaw hung loose in shock she hadn't heard the man utter any kind of incantation, what was he?

Before she could do anything, Emilie was pulled away from her as the pillar repositioned itself next to the man. She gripped her hatchet harder as rage consumed every facet of her being. "Let her go!" She gritted out through clenched teeth.

The man raised an eyebrow. "That voice, could it be?" Before she could do anything. A pillar shot up from the stone in front of her which knocking her helmet off before she could react. Revelling her shocked face. Just how fast was this man with his incantations. "By the founder it is true." She could only look up at the man wide-eyed, who still looked as neutral as ever. "That voice, the fiery personality, sister it's truly you."

What!

"Luft would say fate is nothing more than sheep making order out of madness, but finding you just after you gave our men the slip, that has to be more than simple coincidence."

WHAT!

The man brought a hand up to his chin as he began to scratch it. "Yes, mother and father were in such a state of despair after you had left the academy."

 **WHAT!**

The man let out a small chuckle aimed directly at her. "I can tell you don't believe me, although I can't really blame you, it's been well over twelve years since we were separated and well, I'm in disguise." the man glowed, the light coming from him blinding her, to the point that she had to bring up a hand to block the light. The only thing she could see is the faint silhouette of the man which changed and morphed to that of a tall woman with long hair.

Kirche felt shock take hold of her once more as she stared at the women in front of her. It was nearly an exact copy of herself the only difference besides the brown suit she still wore was the long brown hair that ran down her back and the toned muscles that she could make out from underneath the clothing.

Her mind cleared as she realized just what this was. She began laughing uncontrollably. "You almost got me with the act." She said as she pointed towards the mockery of herself. "Claiming that I'm not an only child. Morphing into something that looks just like me but different enough to make me believe we may be related." She wiped away a tear the had formed in her eye. "But the thing is, I've dealt with your kind before elf."

"Hmm," The man looked at her seemingly indifferent about her answer. "Come now Feuer," She felt her heart skip a beat, the only people that had ever called her that had been the people that had experimented on her. She looked back up to her doppelganger wide-eyed who gave her a small sly smile. "Is that any way to talk to Family?"

Her internal flame grew roared, as anger consumed every fibre of her being. The person in front of her, who she refused to call her sister was taunting her. She began to tremble in pure rage as her hands balled into fists. "Why? Why would you work for those monsters? After what they did to you?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"Why wouldn't you?"

Her mouth hung open in shock. "What?" She asked in a meek voice.

"Our parents gave us incredible power to the point where we rival our respective elementals." To prove her point she slowly walked towards her as pillars of earth rose around her. They morphed into several different statues of various items, historical figures and animals. "If anything, you should be thanking them, it was an incredibly expensive procedure we went through, and in the end look how we turned out."

Kirche gripped the axe harder. "That's how you justify it, the pain they put me through, the surgeries. All that is fine because of what came of it."

The doppelganger said nothing as she stopped in place and simply nodded. Enraging her even further. "Although this presents an interesting situation. She brought Emilie around in front of her. "Our parents' new source of income can't be interrupted by a young women's guilt." she placed a gentle hand on the girl's cheek, as tears could be seen running down it. "And they'll no doubt be curious about your progress." Her gaze shifted over to her. "However, I think I figured out a solution to both issues." The pillar that was Emilie's prison began to twist as the girl within let out a sharp cry of pain.

Kirche stepped forward in order to help but was blocked when several earth spears shot up out of the ground, confining her to the wooden platform. The girl's cries grew louder as Kirche stood there. She raised her hatchet and took aim at the doppelganger. All her rage that had laid dormant since she had left her families surfaced once more. Her body burned as the fire within her roared with unbridled fury. A massive fireball formed at the end of her hatchet. She hadn't even needed to speak the incantation to create the spell, but right now she didn't care.

The fireball shot out towards the women. She, however, made no attempt to stop it. In fact, she opened her arms as if accepting her fate. Kirche was confused by her mirror self, why was she so accepting of death? Was her loyalty to her parents that deep? She brushed those questions aside. It mattered not if she wanted to die so bad she'll let her.

The fireball impacted the women in the chest engulfing her in the ever consuming he. She howled in pain as she fell backwards attempting to put out the fire that had overtaken her suit. Kirche's eyes went wide as the woman's body hit the ground disappearing into it as if it was water. Her eyes scanned the environment looking for any sign of the women; it was clear that this person was most likely hiding in the ground but where. A piercing scream echoed in her ears followed by a sudden crack of bone then, silence. Shifting her gaze back to Emilie she found her head was now twisted backwards.

Her breath hitched in her throat, as she sprinted over to her, destroying the spears that blocked her path with ease. She reached the pillar finding the head of Emilie staring blankly into the void, her eye's glassed over. Refusing to give up hope, Kirche tore off one of her gauntlets and pressed a finger just under the nose in search of a sign that she was still alive. But it was no use. The girl in front of her was dead. Her nails dug into her palm as she clenched her fist. "Damn it." She muttered as she slammed a closed fist onto the pillar.

"Nothing really changes does it?" The woman's voice echoed from behind her. Anger consumed her. Her internal grew larger and hotter as gripped her hatchet tighter. In a single moment she spun around and attacked the woman with her hatchet, swinging wide, and for the neck, she once again made no attempt to block the attack accepting it.

Kirche's eye's shot wide in shock as the hatchet connected to the woman's neck. She didn't even flinch there wasn't any sign of damage. Her neck was made out of stone, which blocked the blade and her legs were surrounded by pillars of earth keeping her in place. Gritting her teeth, Kirche unleashed a flurry of attacks against the doppelganger in front of her. Her skin morphed to stone as she struck making her attacks pointless, but it didn't matter to her, this woman was connected to **them** she needed to die, she needed to be put down like the attack dog she was.

She hammered away but it was useless, she knew it was, but she kept up her assault looking for any sign of weakness in the woman, but it didn't matter, it all turned to stone, her legs, arms neck, face gut.

"Seems, like your weak physically but your ferocity is still there." The woman seemingly fed up with being a punching back morphed her left arm into a stone spear. It launched forward aimed at the redhead's chest. Gritting her teeth, Kirche twisted her body in an attempt to dodge the attack. The spear grazed her chest piece causing sparks to fly off in various directions. Kirche hopped back as she launched her hands behind her. Chains flew out of her extended arms and wrapped around the shelves on the other side of the room. "Earth magic? How interesting."

She flew across the room as the chains pulled her to safety. The woman smiled at her as she sank into the stone beneath her as if it was water. As she disappeared from her sight, Kirche noticed something move from beneath her. Looking down she saw the brunette lunging at her with her spiked arms. Opening her palm, she launched a torrent of fire at the woman completely ignoring the pain it brought. The brunette's right arm morphed into a large round shield which blocked the flames. "Your control of fire is weak compared to what I've been told; perhaps you're out of practice."

Seeing an opportunity to get the upper hand, kirche dissolved the chains letting her fall. She kept the torrent of fire up long enough for her boots to come into contact with the stone shield. Stopping the torrent, she crouched down and leapt from the shield crossing back over to where the box laid.

The wood snapped as she landed. Her eye's shot wide as she quickly extended her arm, chain shot from it and wrapped around the pillar of rock that still contained Emilie's corpse, stopping her from falling into the abyss below. Pulling herself up onto as her mind began racing to come up with a plan. She couldn't take her in a fight, not in a place like this; she needed to get away from her. Her eyes drifted over to the metal box that looked like it was about to fall over.

Bringing her mind back to the present she found the woman standing in front of her. Her left arm was now normal and wielded one-handed stone war hammer. The right arm remained a shield no doubt to help with blocking her magic. A plan formed in her head, she had a good idea of what to do, but she had to make sure of something first.

She readied herself to fight but didn't move; she had to be sure. The earth woman began to approach her thanks to the earth that moved beneath her feet. Upon reaching the wood, she stepped off the stone. So, it was true she needs to have a source of stone to manipulate it. She could work with that. The plan had begun to form in her mind, all that she needed was to know how her rock skin worked. She dashed forward towards the woman with her hatchet ready to strike.

The brunette raised her large shield as Kirche brought the hatchet down. The clank of metal of stone rang in her ears as she let forth another barrage of attacks. Sweat ran down her face as the toll of combat began to make itself known in her arms thanks to the burning feeling. She pushed through it all; she wouldn't go back to her parents she couldn't.

Winding back a final time she launched a fireball from her hatchet just as she was about to strike. It collided with the shield destroying it under the unrelenting force of her anger, revealing the woman's toned arm. Time slowed down as Kirche watched the woman's eyes and arm. They tracked her weapon, which is normal enough but the thing that caught her attention was the fact that the stone didn't just appear on her arm it was coming from somewhere on her chest. It also meant that it wasn't an automatic response.

A smile formed on her face, her plan could work, no it would work! Tossing her hatchet to her left hand, she once again attacked the woman. She had to push through all of her combat experience as what she was about to do was extremely stupid. Opening herself up to attack she swung wide, leaving herself blatantly open. Part one, get her distracted.

The woman took the bait her eyes tracking her hatchet once more leaving her neck open. A small dagger formed in her right hand. Before the brunette in front of her could even react, she stabbed the knife into her neck causing a low grunt of pain to escape her lips. Part two bind her. The chain began to wrap around the woman restraining her. Her plan was working, all she neede-. Before she could finish that thought, the stone war hammer collided with her head.

She stumbled away as she clenched her head where the hammer had struck, finding that her hair felt wet no doubt blood, but she could worry about that later. Looking back at the woman, she now found two where she stood. It was evident that she was seeing double. The brunette struggled with the chains off in the corner of her vision. She needed to act fast. Pushing through the fog, she attached the woman to the box that still stood precariously on the edge with hot red chains.

Part 3, toss her off the fucking edge. Raising her hatchet, she took aim at the wood the box sat on. "IGNUS PINA!" A fireball shot out of the end. With the wood being nearly rotted broke under the attack causing the box to silently fell into the abyss below.

The woman struggled to keep her balance, but it was soon apparent that her strength was more then Kirche had first imagined. "Cunning. I would have figured you for Luft if not for your fire magic." the woman said with a smug smile. Her anger built once more as an idea came to her, she doubted the spell would work with her hatchet considering its flame core. She would have to deal with the pain.

Aiming her right hand to the woman's feet, she muttered the words that would end this fight. "Glacies." ice shot from her hand coating the wood in the slick solid. With no more traction on the wood. The woman slid down the path as the box dragged her away.

"I'll give your regards to mother and father." The brunette said as she was dragged off the edge and into the abyss.

Dropping her hatchet Kirche fell back to a sitting position as fatigue began to take hold. Her mind ran through the last thing the brunette said. Her voice contained no hate, no anger. Just acceptance she wasn't dead there was no way she was. Not with how she was speaking. Pain suddenly shot from her right hand breaking her from her thoughts. Gazing to it she found it most of her hand and forearm covered in a thick blanket of frost. Her arm felt as if it was on fire and needed to be put out.

Concentrating what willpower, she had left into her arm, it began to heat up. The frost began to melt as she fell back. She was so tired; she just wanted to sleep. As her vision began to fade her head turned towards the hole, just in time to see a familiar Silvery-black figure climb out of it.

xXXXx

 ** _INDEX_**

 ** _LA ROCHELLE_**

 _ **Originally built by dwarves some twenty thousand years ago, they lived in relative peace until the newly founded and ambitious Elven republic began to make their way west in order to find the resources they needed to replenish what had been lost during the third elven war.**_

 _ **They saw the mountain city as a perfect solution to their problem. La Rochelle at the time known as Beghulihm sat on a vast array of resources that the republic knew they needed.** **The mountain that could withstand** **siege** **for years was conquered in but a** **week.** **Thanks to the power of the spirits they had turned the dwarves greatest asset the walls that protected them, against them.**_ _ **After the conquering of Baghulihm, the elves renamed the city to Gaelrius, in honour of the general who had lead his army's to victory at the city.**_

 _ **In the six thousand years they had conquered it the elves implemented a number of changes to the structures within. The chains that held up the elevators were spiritually reinforced to increase their load limit. Removal of coal-based forges, which were replaced by Firestone ones, allowing for metal to be manufactured at a higher rate of production. A water stone based plumbing system and the largest change was the massive airship port at the top of the mountain to allow the shipment of resources back to the capital.**_

 _ **But the most controversial change was the start of the cave cow usage. In order to speed up elevator times, elven scientists created cave cows as something to fix this issue. However, there is more to these weird bovine creatures than their appearance that is explained in the Cave cow entry.**_

 _ **But, that time of prosperity wouldn't last forever. six thousand years ago Brimir was sweeping his way through** **Halkeginia making room for his people to settle. Upon coming to Gaelrius his armies started to siege the mountain, but it was pointless. The elves were simply too dug in to be outed. This changed as Brimir with a single spell, destroyed the elven garrison that was defending the bottom of the mountain. The rest of the elves seeing their defeat coming fled from the mountain in their large metal airships. Brimir stood victorious that day claiming the mountain as his own. naming it La Rochelle as an insult to the elves that had attempted to defend it.**_

 _ **But even with the elves defeated the mountain proved to be treacherous. The spirits guarded their home with a ferocity that has yet to be seen again. Brimir decided to take action. splitting up his closest followers, they began to long process of ridding their new city of spirits starting with the elevators that would be needed to move both people and resources up and down the mountain.**_

 _ **The process was interrupted as the elves launched an offensive against the newly established Romania, leaving the process incomplete and never too be completed due to the fact that Brimir later died.**_

 _ **In total there are around six-hundred and seventy-two floors. Around sixty of them are deemed safe for Human inhabitance, forty are dangerous to inhabit thanks to the maddening effects the spirits can have on a person while the other five hundred are a no go for normal individuals.**_

 _ **However, Elven artifacts are extremely valuable amoung collects and the church making expeditions into the unexplored regions of the mountain's worth it for people who have nothing left to lose.**_

xXXXx

 _ **CAVE COWS**_

 ** _Cave cows are horrific looking creatures that live in the midsection of the mountain. The cave cow is unlike any other species of bovine in_** _ **Halkeginia. Around the size of a small pony, it is duel headed, but unlike a water hydra, the heads are located at either end of the body making it look as if someone had cut a bull in half and simply mirrored the front. They have two sets of front legs allowing any head to take control and lead the other. This is thought to be the reason why they are the main source of power driving the elevators.**_

 _ **Due to the fact that they live their lives underground the bovine's hair skin and eyes, all have a ghostly white look adding to the sense of horror one feels when they see them. They don't seem to age either as the cave cow's that run the elevators have yet to drop dead and they have yet to be replaced.**_

 _ **Some believe that these creatures aren't really alive as they neither need for water or food, they don't age. This belief is only reinforced by the claims of people who have been unfortunate enough to witness the creature. claims that they reek of death. green blood pouring out of various opening along the body. But that's only from those who live to tell the tale.**_

 _ **Cave cows vary in both intelligence and aggresion levels, but they usually will attack any human on sight. Pray that you are never pinned by one as the beasts saliva contains a powerful curse, that will quickly cause necrosis in all the touch it leaving grey husks of men and women in their wake.**_

 _ **But the true horror behind these beasts are their origins. With the collapse of the last Elven empire, crime ran rampant across the republic. they needed a solution, prisons were getting full. they needed a way to contain the prisoners that would also benefit the growing republic. The solution they came up with was to place the soul of the convict into that of an animal of burden. Both clearing a room in a prison and giving the convict a purpose as he lived out his sentence.**_

 _ **But they soon ran out of animals. on top of which it was an expensive and dangerous procedure that could lead ether the animal or the person braindead. the solution to that was a cave cow. Effectively stitching two cow corpses together. The souls of Two convicts would be placed inside as and then put to work as they lived their sentence.**_

 _ **But there is no living out there sentence in La Rochelle, with no one to aid in escaping their bodies. the convicts are forced to live and work forever as they wander the halls of a dead elven city.**_

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **So, I hope you can forgive me about being a little late with this chapter. I've been busy this week as school starts back up, giving me less time to write this story but I will try my best with continuing this weekly update schedule I got going. So, I apologize for any future delays.**_

 ** _But yeah, Kirche's family is showing up and apparently, her sister can swim in rock, who would have thunk it huh? Also, I should probably stop killing off side characters, although I may write a small side story featuring Emilie in the future so who knows._**

 ** _Also Albonese wind rifles. I had planned to do an index on them, but it wouldn't really make sense since the index was all about La Rochelle._**

 ** _Anyways i'm dead tired so i'mma sleep. Let me know what you think about this chapter. I always love reading it. Have a great night/day everyone._**


	19. Chapter 19: Reunion

I am so sorry for the lack of updates recently I've been hit pretty with schooling making it challenging to find time to write. Due to this, I will have switching to a bi-weekly schedule, so I hope that you all understand.

In other news, cover art and a hundred follower which I thank all of you for.

xXXXx

A scream, that was all that it took to turn this simple mission into a disaster. Louise spun in place allowing her to see the rock shoot towards her. On reflex she reached for Derf, only to find air where he usually rested, she looked for the blade as her mind raced to keep up with her body. But it was too late. The rock collided with her forcing her back. But with no ground behind her, she fell.

Louise's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she fell head-first into the abyss. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell further and further into the darkness. She had to wonder what she did to have earned this life of falling. As her trajectory shifted, she realized that she was about to impact the wooden platform. The men working all looked her way, even at these high speeds, she could see the shock that was displayed on all of their faces.

Her attention was brought back to the wooden floor which was rushing to meet her. Stopping her screaming, much to her lungs delight, she gritted her teeth and raised her arms to try and protect her head. A grunt escaped her lips as she impacted the wood. It cracked and broke under the pink haired missile's attack. As she busted through the wood, Louise realized that she was now facing the hole that she had made. Twisting her head to look behind her, she found another wooden floor rushing to greet her.

The wood creaked as she impacted it but thankfully held. A groan escaped her lips as she laid on the wooden floor, her back ached, she had to wonder whether that was due to the rifle or bow she carried on her back. Pushing the thought aside she slowly rolled over onto her stomach. Her eyes scanned the environment, finding every single person's eyes were on her. Most in shock, but there were several who just looked confused by the situation. She could hardly blame them; how would she react if a person just fell through the roof of her classroom while it was in session.

Her eyes grew heavy She wanted nothing more than to merely fall asleep; it was as if all the fatigue that she should have felt over the past few days decided to hit her right then and there. She pushed through it. They were under attack, and they needed her up. She struggled against the wooden floor as she attempted to pick herself up. She felt something on her back. Suddenly she was shoved back against the floor. She glanced up finding a huge man standing over her clad in plate metal armour his face was obscured by an ugly metal helmet. By the way, his leg was angled it was no doubt that his foot was holding her down.

"Who ar' you? What ar' you doin' here? This is a restricted, area? Don't make me repeat myself!" He asked in a thick accent, not giving her an opportunity to reply.

A scowl formed on her face, she had no time for this. Her eyes began to scan the environment, looking for anything that could help her get back to her friends. The man continued his one-sided interrogation, but Louise had tuned him out. Her eyes finally landed on the chains that continued to move upwards. She slowly nodded to herself as the plan came together.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

The fatigue that had constricted her was now gone allowing her to see clearly once more. Using her augmented strength, she quickly rolled over throwing the large man off balance. She gave his other leg a quick kick, causing the man to tumble over as a grunt escape his lips. Now free she pushed herself up to her feet. The people around her were dumbfounded no doubt wondering how someone so small was able to overpower a man that easily had a few hundred pounds over her. She simply ignored them. Running over to the chain, she jumped with all her might. The wood beneath her splintering under the sheer power in her legs.

She soared through the air as the men below her broke out of their stupor. Shouts were heard from below her, but she once again ignored them, at the apex of her arms reached out and grabbed the metal chain. As she dangled over the pit, she couldn't help but look down. Her eye's widened as her breath hitched in her throat. Her grip on the chain tightened, her gaze was slowly pulled away from the thing that could very well be her demise. Up ahead she could see the next wooden platform, there was no doubt that there would be people working up there and there was no doubt they would try to stop her.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Her body became translucent just as she passed the thresh-hold to the next level. Several men were surrounding the hole that she had made looking both at it and up from where she came from. Louise wondered just how far she fell, but thankfully that question was soon answered when she found a giant 658 painted on the wall of the 'warehouse.' using the hole she made as a distraction, she deactivated her cloak allowing the suit to recharge.

"Hello, Valliere." A fleeting voice said to her. Spinning around, she caught a faint glimpse of a long-haired brunette that looked surprisingly like Kirche. She was gone before she says anything to her, down into the dark abyss below. She looked back up at where she had come from as her mind began to process what she had just seen.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Activating her cloak, as she reached the next floor, she found that they just didn't care for the goings on below them as they were too busy working and prepping for the next day. She couldn't blame them, back at the academy she had ignored the events of the school, for the most part, only really caring for events that would affect her grades.

She soon passed by the civilian landing, her destination was almost within reach. Suddenly the chains violently shook, as if something was attacking them. Louise held on with all her strength as the chains continued to shake her off. Looking below her proved to be useless as all she could see was the stunned faces of the workers as they tried to get the chains under control. Her grip was slipping, and with the cloak active she just didn't have the energy to augment her strength. She needed to do something.

Deactivating her cloak, she angled her body with the civilian landing. Letting go of the chains she fell landing on it with a dull thud. Her gaze shot upwards, towards her destination as her energy began to recharge. It was then that she noticed the large hole where the box had been, just what had happened? She pushed that question to the back of her mind she could worry about that later. Her eyes scanned the wooden structure, finding that the left side of the hole looked to be the least rotted.

She jumped up and grabbed the edge as the wood groaned causing her heart to skip a beat. Thankfully the wood held allowing her to Pull herself up easily with her suit's strength, but it did little to stop the rush of adrenaline she got while being over the nearly bottomless pit. She breathed a sigh of relief as she rolled over the edge of the pit allowing her to take comfort in the fact that she had made it. But it was soon cut short as she realized the environment she was in. Pillars of stone were all around; shelves were all but destroyed. Her heart sank as she noticed the unconscious body of Kirche resting next to one of the more massive stone pillars.

"Kirche!" Jumping the gap with ease, she raced over to her friends' body, quickly crouching down and raising her mask, she examined her body, looking for any sign of damage.

A groan suddenly escaped the redhead's lips as a look of pain formed on her face. Her eye's slowly opened revealing the woman's hazel iris's as she brought a hand to her head. "Louise?"

She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods. You're alive."

"When did you get all fuzzy?" Her head tilted towards her body. "When did I get s-" Whatever she was about to say was cut off as her cheeks puffed up as the rest of her face twisted into disgust. The woman rolled onto her side before puking her supper up next her. Groaning, she rolled onto her back. Louise felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw the faint outlines of runes on her head "Helmet." She ordered in a weak voice.

Louise looked around as her mind raced, why was she branded? Or was she merely imagining things, she hoped it was the latter as the former implied something horrifying? Pushing that thought aside She soon found the metal helmet resting nearby on the wooden platform. Doing as she was told she quickly retrieved it for the redhead who eagerly took it from her. As Kirche put on the helmet, Louise couldn't help but notice that Emilie was missing, no matter where she looked there was no sign of the young blonde woman. "Say, Kirche wh-"

"Can you get my gauntlet, it's somewhere around here." The redhead said while rising to a sitting position as she flexed her bare hand. She once again did as she was told. Looking around, she found the metal fingers poking out from behind a nearby stone pillar just passed Kirche. Standing up, she passed the redhead as she made her way over to the gauntlet. She took a deep breath as she attempted to quell the fears that plagued her mind. Emilie was no doubt fine, Kirche may be annoying, but she can be quite intimidating when she needs to.

Reaching the pillar, Louise found the rest of the gauntlet hiding behind it. She let out a small sigh. Placing a hand on the pillar to stabilize herself, she bent down. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small crimson pool which glistened in the torchlight. She placed the gauntlet on her hip, which became stuck to her suit as she shifted her focus to the pool of liquid. Reaching down, she put two fingers into the pool as she hoped to the gods above that this warehouse was storing wine of some kind.

Pulling her fingers back, she slowly rose them to her nose. One whiff of the liquid confirmed what she knew in the back of her mind. This was blood. But that begged the question where did it come from? Rocks suddenly fell from the top of the pillar, landing in the pool of blood. Her eyes went wide at the implication; slowly she turned towards the pillar as she stood up. Her eyes slowly trailing up it as her heartbeat began to speed up.

The head of Emilie sat atop the pillar, her eyes were glassed over and out of focus as she stared off into nothing. Her skin was pale and clammy, and jaw hung loose. Louise shut her eyes as she ground her teeth. Not again. She slammed the side of her fist on the pillar. What did she do to deserve this, she seemed kind and pious so why did the gods above think it right to take her life. First Guiche who's biggest crime was cheating on his girlfriend. Then the humble knight who was ready to sacrifice himself for his country. Now the girl who traded a potion worth a small fortune for a little help.

Was this her life now? Was the life of a warrior? Watching the people around you die? Was this what awaited her in the future? Why couldn't Derf be here when she needed him. Her eyes widen in shock as a revelation came to her. If Emilie was dead how was she going to get Derf back? Her eyes shot opened as resolve filled her core. No, she was going to get him back, she wouldn't lose him, she wouldn't lose the only guide she could rely on.

She turned back to Kirche finding her leaning on a shelf as she attempted to stabilize herself as well as putting her hatchet back into its holster. Marching over to the redhead, she handed her the gauntlet. "Thanks." She said gratefully.

"Who did this?" Louise asked, in a calm voice that betrayed her emotions.

Kirche's helmet stared at the pink haired girl for a moment before answering. "Some. Woman. Was a square class earth mage. but I was able to toss her down the elevator shaft." She spoke in broken sentences.

"So she's dead?"

"Most likely." Louise breathed a sigh of relief, at least she was avenged. She walked in front of Kirche, before turning her back to her and crouching down, looping her arms. "Uh, Louise?"

"We're going to get Derflinger then were leaving this accursed city. But with the way you're looking, you're going to be limping all the way there. If you, let me carry you it'll be faster." The redhead begrudgingly accepted, slipping both her legs into the holes. Louise pulled then tight against her body as she suddenly stood up, surprising her as she brought her mask down.

With the drive of a power-hungry demon, Louise broke out into a sprint surprising the redhead who clung to her for fear of falling off. Louise ignored her as she dashed through the dark tunnels following her suits map to a tee. It didn't matter how sharp a turn was or how dark the tunnel was. She didn't slow down for anything or anyone.

The pair arrived at the back door of the alchemy shop in record time. The mood between them was sombre, but it was a feeling neither of them could focus on right now. She had to retrieve Derf. Setting Kirche down on the far wall of the tunnel, Louise walked over to the large double doors. Reaching out, she grabbed ahold of the large handle and pulled back on the door.

Louise was suddenly thrown onto her back by an explosion from within. "Louise!" Her eyes widen as she looked up, finding a fire roaring within the shop.

"I'm fine." She said as she pushed herself to her feet. Her eyes stared into the shop but found nothing but flames and smoke. Clenching her fists, she rose her arms to protect her head as she began to approach the fire. She had to get him back.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

With her defences raised she rushed into the fire as panic to find him grew.

 _ **DANGER**_

"Louise!"

She ignored both her suit and Kirche, none of it mattered. She needed him. Her vision was obscured by the black tar smoke that surrounded her. She could barely make out the barrels and boxes that were All around her. She was silently glad that her suit handled the smoke, giving her all the time, she needed to search for him. "Derf!" She shouted at the top of her lungs in an attempted to find him. But only the roar of the fire could be heard.

 _ **DANGER**_

Moving into the next room, she found that the smoke wasn't as thick no doubt because the only the tables that held both her recipes and cauldrons were the only flammable things in the room. "Derf!" She shouted once more but once again proved pointless.

 _ **DANGER**_

Out of the corner of her eye, she found a door that she hadn't noticed before. It was currently ablaze. But it didn't deter her. Rushing forward, she slammed into the door which broke under the assault allowing her into what looked to be the blonde's bedroom. The room was sparse with the only furniture being a dresser to her left, a tiny bed in the corner and a large painting of an older blond woman hanging above the bed.

Thankfully the fire hadn't spread to this room yet. Glancing down at her energy meter, she found it was in the red which made the decision clear. Using this small respite, she had been given; she deactivated her armour. He had to be in here if there was anywhere someone would hide something important it would be near the place where you rest your head. Her first target was the dresser to her right. She tore through all the drawers looking for any sign of her blade but found nothing.

She turned her attention to the bed that sat right behind her. Moving over to the side of the bed, she gripped the end of the mattress and quickly lifted it only to find nothing but an empty bed frame. Slamming down the mattress in a fit of anger, she fell to her hands and knees as she looked underneath it, again, finding nothing. Gritting her teeth she Stood up, bringing her foot over the bed and slammed it down in a fit of rage, snapping the bed frame in the process.

Standing in the center of the room, that was now a mess, she tapped her foot. Where would he be, where had she put him? "Think Louise, think!" She shouted to herself. Where did people hide things? Her gaze slowly turned to the painting. She had caught mother hiding a strange looking firearm in the safe behind the portrait of Grandfather Ericson once. Perhaps. Reaching out, she grabbed the corners of the painting and quickly threw it off finding a large black iron safe that could easily hold him. A key would be necessary to open it, something she didn't have. Her hand curled into a fist as the energy finally topped out.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Reeling back her fist, she punched the safe with all of he might, denting the black iron door entrapping her hand something she wasn't really planning on but she could make it work. Reeling back her other fist, she punched once more. Once again denting the metal and trapping her hand. Pressing a foot against the wall, she pulled back using all of her might. The black iron groaned as it was worked. The safe suddenly popped out of the wall surprising the girl. Louise fell onto her back with the safe landing on top of her. She quickly recovered from the mishap and rolled onto her side before standing back up. Placing the safe on the ground, she set a foot on the edge, once again putting all of the force she could muster into her pulling.

The safe's door groaned once more before suddenly popping open. Relaxing her hands, she pulled them out of the holes before throwing the door open, allowing her to see her sword sitting in the safe. "Hey there partner, job already do-" Before he could finish that sentence, Louise plucked him out of the safe and hugged the blade. Much to his surprise. "Uh, something I should know partner?"

Her face began to heat up. She pulled away from the blade as she set him on her hip. "I-I-I-it's j-j-just b-b-been lonely without you pestering me with your annoying jokes." She turned back to the burning shop finding the fire had started to spread into the room. "L-l-l-let's F-focus on g-g-getting out of h-h-here."

"Whatever you say, partner, although it's good to be back and to know you care about this old blade." He chuckled. Louise silently agreed with the blade.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR**_

 _ **DANGER**_

Stepping back out into the flames, Louise quickly rushed into the back of the shop. "You know partner I had figured that blondie shortchanged you considering you had to force your way into the safe but to burn down her shop. What did she do to you?"

A scowl formed on her face behind her mask as the memories of the blonde-haired girl's corpse. "I didn't do this. Emilie's dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss."

She just shook her head. "I didn't know her. If I'm being honest with myself, I was more worried about getting you back. Besides, Kirche killed her killer." She told the blade as she pushed into the storage room. Fire loomed all around her but thanks to the suit she felt none of the heat. It was just the right temperature for her. But as she walked over to the exit that would be her escape she heard it. A sharp hissing noise was coming from right behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, she found the metal stock of the Albonese wind rifle was warped before she could do anything else it exploded sending pieces of metal into her helmet shoulder and back. She let out a cry of pain as her head was forced forward. She clenched her head as she stumbled forward.

"Louise!" Derflinger cried out.

"I'm fine." She said as she stumbled out into the dark tunnel. Looking up, she found Kirche still standing by the far wall. As she reached the center of the room where the fire couldn't touch her she deactivated her armour and pulled the wind rifle from her back as she pulled her mask up

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Using all the energy left in her suit, she threw the rifle to the ground in a fit of rage, bending the barrel of the gun as it bounced across the tunnel. "Damn Albonese piece of garbage."

The sword now back on her hip chuckled. "Well glad to see that things haven't changed much in the day that I've been gone."

A scowl formed on her face, before it was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "Me too." She looked back up to Kirche who was simply staring at her; her helmet obscured her face. Louise's smile ran away from her face. "Come on, the faster we leave this city, the better."

xXXXx

The next few days passed by without much happening. It was a three-day trip to the RTN Henry, so they had left La Rochelle at first light, well before rumours of the silvery-black demon could spread throughout the city. Louise had wanted to stop by Marie's clinic and tell her about Emilie's passing, but Kirche stopped her, stating that it would only tie them to her death creating baggage for them if they ever wish to return to the city. Because of this Louise choose to stay silent on the matter, acting as if this entire night never happened. They had come up with alibies to explain why they had left in the middle of the night, Kirche's concussion was caused by her banging into a wall at high speed. The reason why Louise left in the middle of the night? She just couldn't sleep.

The group was able to hitch a ride on a large cargo ship heading for the RTN Henry carrying both food water and medical supplies that would be needed for both the carrier's crew and mounts that had called that place home for the past several months. With it being a cargo ship, the crew was quite small for the size allowing each member of the group to have their room. Louise had assumed the Longueville would be an issue, but Wardes took responsibility and kept her in his room.

But that ultimately left them with a lot of time on their hands. Louise had spent the first day just speaking with Derf in her tiny room, just bouncing ideas off of him as she tried to get her priorities straight, but in the end, she hadn't made any progress. She spent the rest of her days reading from the small library in the crew lounge with Tabitha. They didn't have many books few books they did had revolved around a heroic mage without a title rising to the occasion and saving a noblewoman from an evil sorcerer who in the end forsakes her title to live with her true love. However, as she read the story, she couldn't help but draw parallels to Derf. The sword the mage used was a sentient spell eater who encouraged the man on his quest.

Kirche, on the other hand, took a more lucrative approach to how she spent her time. She would merely confine herself to her room for most of the day, but as soon as night rolled around, she would emerge in her red dress carrying a pack of cards. She would challenge most of the crew to a game of Germanian poker. Putting up her large sums of gold, as collateral.

Naturally, since the men were deprived of feminine contact for weeks at a time, the gladly accept the challenge. The game would go on normally, but something was off. Kirche would lose some rounds, but she would never go bust. Louise soon found out the reason why. Kirche would morph the cards in her hands to suit the situation ultimately letting her control the entire game from start to finish. At the end of the night, Kirche would bring back either the winner or second place to her room where she no doubt squeezed him for the rest of his money. As the days went on her gold purses multiplied as less and less people joined her game. But at the same time, the dark bags under her eyes seem to grow. It was apparent that she had sleepless nights.

She could relate slightly. Every night she wound up in the dark grey void of hexagons which would then morph into different environments. New situations presented themselves. Most notably was on the second night when she found herself in a valley of sorts. Large towers of hexagons surrounded her set up in such a way that reminded her of a city. Those white enemies were hidden in nearly every nook and cranny, and her job was to find them **all** and take them out. Something that took hours to do.

But even with all this going on, Louise couldn't help but worry about her fiancé. He had spent the entire trip in his room only ever emerging to get water or food. She couldn't help but wonder what was going on in that room but had decided against it.

Currently, the group stood out on the cloud covered deck of the ship early in the morning on the third day, Louise had the box of destruction secured to her back while Longueville sat bound beside the viscount. They were within the clouds which hid the RTN Henry. They were asked to move out of the lower levels so that the crew could work without any obstacles.

The reason didn't matter to Louise; she had wanted to see it since her mother's first tour on it. It was a work of technological genius, no other carrier in all of the Brimirc countries could compare, oh some tried most notably the Germanian Albert class supercarriers that they touted about. But with ten decks of hangers, they were big and slow, making them nearly useless in any other aspect other than intimidation.

RTN Henry, on the other hand, used a stealthier approach to air superiority. It was only around half the size of the Germanian counterpart, with only five decks lower decks not including cargo and the main deck, but it made up for that lack in size with stealth capabilities. Using a combination of water and wind stones, it's able creates clouds that surround the ship, making it nearly impossible for it to be attacked without a large fleet blindly firing into the cloud cover.

This, however, works both ways they couldn't see them, but they couldn't see us. This is however negated thanks to tactics her mother created. Using familiars shared senses abilities tacticians with small or fast familiars can gather intelligence without sacrificing security. This allows the ship to launch hit and type attacks with almost no way for the enemies to counter-attack. There was a drawback to this ship design, and that was the price. With water stones being incredibly rare to find the cost of this single ship almost bankrupted the country, but it didn't matter to her, the ship, in the end, was worth it.

"There it is!" Kirche shouted breaking her from her musings. Louise could only stare in awe as the clouds began to part allowing them to admire the beauty of the massive airship. Its sails were down, as it merely stood in place within the eye of the self-made storm. Chains hung off the main deck which held its hangers open allowing them to see the dragons, griffins and manticores all lazing about as they awaited their duty. Each one looked as graceful as they were terrifying.

A loud horn was heard from the ship signalling that they would be creating more clouds. Louise through her head over the side of the ship to watch the display. Every single mount that was underneath the ship began to ascend on their way back to their cages. The horn soon ended as the air surrounding the ship became devoid of anything except for four dragons, two on either side of the ship. A grey fog suddenly shot out of the bottom of the ship with a sharp hiss, Louise stared on in awe at the display. As the mist leaving the ship began to slow down, the dragons and their riders quickly got to work moving the clouds into position around the perimeter of the ship.

Her eyes ran along the ship admiring every single mount in sight. Her eyes eventually drifted over to one of the larger hangers near the back of the ship where a large manticore slept. She couldn't help but feel that this beast was familiar to her. Was it the scar across its right eye, the sheer size of it or was it something else. It almost looked like.

 _ **Mothers**_

The smile that covered Louise face slowly ran off of her face as she felt sweat begin to form on her face. A new fear ate at her mind. Her mother, she was going to meet her mother. She hadn't even thought about that the entire trip. But now as she looked on at the large ship, it hit her like a brick. What was she going to do, what would she say? What would she think about what she had done?

She looked down at the weapons on her body. The dagger, the blade, the bow and quiver. She looked like a thug and this armour. Her mother had told her always to make sure you're presentable. But what could she do? Taking it off wasn't an option, she didn't have any clothing to replace it, and she doubted her mother would find it funny if she took her orders word for word.

A small smile formed on her face as an idea came to her. Who said she would have to speak with her. This wasn't technically lying if she didn't say anything and her mother didn't recognize her. She let out a small sigh as her arms slumped. This was only prolonging the issue. She would have to tell her family someda-. "Oh, no." She muttered to herself. Her legs trembled as she slowly squatted down, bringing both hands over her ears while gazing at her own feet in an attempt to block out the world.

"Louise whats wrong?" the voice of Kirche asked from out of sight. But she ignored her friend. She had screwed up royally. Her family was no doubt freaking out. The school had closed for just under a week; they no doubt received the news of that happening and would be expecting her back home. Perhaps they may believe that she had stopped in Tristian for a few days to visit the princess and that would have bought her a few days, but even then, they would expect at least a letter to confirm that she was fine.

Every inch of her body grew cold. When had she gotten this forgetful? She began to take deep breaths as she attempted to calm her panic state. No this can be explained by her situation. Getting into fights every day can make one forgetful. Right? She began to violently shake her head. No that wasn't an excuse that her family would accept. Especially sister Eleonore. If she were to find out, what she had been doing. Unconsciously she began to rub her cheek at the thought of her eldest sister.

"Cargo procedure four!" a voice from above her shouted. Looking up to the source of the voice she found a large wind dragon hovering over them. The heavily armoured knight that was sat the dragon guided the ship to this first position. Curiosity soon won her over. She slowly stood up, allowing her to watch the process once more. She found themselves a few hundred feet over a large pit in the center of the ship that dropped down into the hold of the ship.

Ropes were thrown down from their ship which landed on the deck below. The people looked like worker ants as they scrambled to grab a hold of the cords and tie them to the ship. The cargo ship swayed as the ropes were pulled tight but soon began to match the larger ships movements. Louise could see a single person below them that started to wave two green flags. "Two green, captain!"

"Alright get these hangers open! The faster we get this done, the sooner we can make port." A man who was no doubt the captain shouted from the helm. Men all around the deck quickly got to work, they made their way to each side and began to pull several ropes that were tied to the side of the ship. Hangers below them began to open. "Clear the deck!" The captain shouted as Louise felt a sudden gust of wind on her back.

Turning around, she found the wind dragon landing on the deck next to the metal hatch that covered the hold. "Are you the emissaries we were told about?" A knight whose shoulders and face were obscured by heave metal armour asked. His white coat and cape along with the gold pentagram on his dragon's saddle told her that he was from Romalia.

Before confusion could take hold of her senses, Wardes answered. "Yes, we have been instructed to transfer the box on my fiancé's back to Duchess Valliere."

The knight simply stared at them for several moments. His helmet obscuring his face. "Do you have the letter allowing you to come aboard?" Wardes simply nodded. Grabbing the letter and a wand from out of his blue coat, he levitated the letter over to the knight who quietly read it. After several moments he levitated the letter back. "My dragon can handle the three people who have been authorized. The other two will have to ride back to La Rochelle."

Louise looked around finding Tabitha glaring at the knight. "Well, that should be fine." She turned to Wardes who was simply stone-faced. "I mean we hand over Longueville then we catch the ship heading back to port."

"Not quite my Louise," Wardes said as he continued to glare at the man. "Whenever Romanlia is involved everything gets bogged down in bureaucracy. Whoever is representing the pope will no doubt have to send off a letter to an archbishop who will no doubt need to sign off on the transfer before sending it up to the pope himself to see if it gets approved or not."

"What!" Louise shouted. "That's so inefficient. Why would they use such a system?"

"They're allowed to be slow; they're the furthest away from this disaster."

"You best hold your tongue before I cut it off!" The man said through gritted teeth before turning back towards her. "This letter only states that, Madam Tabitha of Gallia, Jean-Jacques Francis Viscount Wardes and Louise de La Valliere." The man trailed off as she said her name no doubt in shock at the name he had just read. He quickly shook his head seemingly clearing it of fear. "are granted permission. Those of you that aren't those three will simply have to go back to whoever permitted you and ask for an updated letter."

Before Wardes was able to retort Tabitha stepped forward. "Take me to Admiral Richelieu." She commanded.

"Who are you?" The knight questioned.

"Madam Tabitha royal knight and emissary of King Joseph and you will take me to Richelieu." The entire group was dumbfounded. Tabitha who usually never said more than one or two words had formed a whole sentence. Not only that but with such a commanding tone.

"Royal Knight of Joseph? My apologies my lady, please, climb aboard so you can explain the situation." The knight sputtered as he attempted to correct his mistake. Tabitha stepped forward once again as she raised her staff. She levitated herself onto the dragon.

"Perhaps you should go with her Louise," Wardes said from beside her.

"Huh?" she turned towards the man confused as to why he would suggest such a thing.

"Your mother is one of the main advisors for the quarantine effort; if anyone can sway her decision, it's you."

Her gaze shifted to the floor as she began to nervously play with her hands. Her mind thought it over, how would she react? A sigh escaped from her lips. She knew it was pointless to try and hide what she had done from her mother. She was like a bloodhound when it came to figuring out her lies. "I'll do it."

A smile formed on the Viscount's face. "You should leave the box of destruction with me while you go and try to persuade your mother."

"R-right." Grabbing the swarmer from her back, she gently placed it on the ground in front of the viscount before walking over and climbing aboard the dragon. The dragon began to flap its wings as it started to ascend.

"I eagerly await your return my Louise!" Wardes shouted. Louise could only silently pray that this would be a quick affair.

xXXXx

Deep within the bowels of the ship Karin de La Valliere stood in the war room surrounded by the other members of the advisory council. She could feel a headache beginning to form in the front of her head, the source of which was coming from the blond-haired moon-eyed brat that stood across a conference table that she was leaning over. It was covered in maps and fleet routes around Albion that she had spent the past three months meticulously tweaking to create the best course that would combine the safety to ensure the longevity of the operation without sacrificing the security of the mainland.

To her left was Admiral Aldo of Germania, an older slim military man who appeared to be in his mid-sixties if the grey balding hair and wrinkled face was anything to go by. The man's emerald eyes spoke of the man's experience. Experience she knew he had as they had fought against each other many times. in the last Tristian Germania war. It felt odd to stand next to him, almost wrong. But it was a feeling she had control over like of her emotions. He was good, but her manticore knights were just better.

To her right was Admiral Richelieu. A man who looked impossibly young for his position due to his impossibly pale skin making it seem that he had never spent a single day outside. However, the fact that his blue coat contained no medals and the fact that Gallia had been in a state of peace for the last fifteen years showed that this boy was new in the field. She had initially suspected nepotism, but he had surprised her with just knowledgeable in tactics he was in the few chats they had. He was able to recite battles dating all the way back to the holy Romanlian empire and why each tactic had worked.

"The loss of the Ladybird last week brings the total up to fourteen ships lost since we began this quarantine." Aldo started. Karin could feel a subtle rage begin to burn deep within her core. "Three of which were Germanian, two were Gallian, one was Romanian." Her grip on the table tightened. "And seven were Tristian."

She let out a short huff that was barely audible. It was still a subject of mystery. The airships were vanishing leaving no traces behind. She had to think of something to fix this; more ships wouldn't work, they had already tried that. She had played around with the idea of making condensed groups of ships, but that would leave them open in specific area's that the rebels could exploit.

"Which is why we are asking the papacy to reconsider its stance on the peaceful nature of this operation."

The blonde just shook his head. "The pope has made it very clear that we are to be a peaceful force enforcing a quarantine to protect the people of Halkegenia. We are in no way an invasion force."

Richelieu slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage. He was absolutely seething with hate. His face was crimson in anger and his arms trembled. "You've been feeding us that line for the past three months. How many men have gone missing and here you are still telling us to sit on our asses and do nothing!"

Karin couldn't help but empathize with the man from the rumours she had heard his brother was serving on the ship when it went missing. "Yes, we have no evidence that it was an attack by the Rebel group."

This was her opportunity to cut in. "Then what do you supposed happened to the ship." She said in a calm voice.

"A multitude of possibilities could explain the disappearance of the ships, windstone leaks. Catastrophic hull failure, rouge winds causing a chain reaction. Or."

The man scowled at the child. "Or what."

"They mutinied and ran off with the ship."

The man snapped. Stomping over to the blond, he grabbed handfuls of his coat. "You dare suggest that my brother would desert his position!" He shouted as he shook the boy.

"No, but you proved my point that you are simply using Reconquista as a way to vent your anger. Perhaps I should inform his holiness of your instability at this moment." His calm voice only angered the Admiral even more.

"Are you threating me, boy!" He shouted as he shook him once more.

"I'm only stating the consequences that you will face should you continue down this path. It wouldn't be wise to throw away your career over this" The man tightened his grip on the boy's coat.

Another opportunity presented itself. "Let him go Admiral."

The man turned to her clearly in shock. "Karin, you can't be serious, you're taking his side?"

"I'm taking no one's side." She stated. "We're wasting our time bickering like children." She glanced towards the Romalian. "The fact of the matter is that there is something out there that is killing our ships, and at this time we still don't know what it is. Which is why I'm suggesting creating a ground-based recon unit that will patrol the perimeter of the island with the airborne patrol. If Reconquista is behind the attacks, we'll be able to figure it out."

The blonde let out a small sigh as he patted the dust off of his chest. "His holiness has thought of something like that. After the first few ships went missing, he put in the request to the Albionese royal family. The only issue is that we never got a reply."

Everyone looked at the boy in shock. Even Karin who was known for her unwavering will was internally baffled by the news. They had hardly any contact with the interior of the country but for it to have fallen in only a few months, was the plague spreading faster? Or had Reconquista been successful in their conquest? "Why haven't you told us any of this before!" Richelieu shouted. "We must warn the troops occupying the ports if Reconquista has taken power they will surely launch and assault and try to break through."

"That is foolish," Aldo muttered. "King James is paranoid as is if we launch an invasion to try to help him and he is simply in hiding then he will mistake it as an invasion and deploy whatever forces he has left to engage us. Not to mention the fact that we would be fighting a war on a plague-ridden island. Perhaps the best option for us at this moment is to simply hold back, wait and see if he is simply on the move."

Karin couldn't help but agree with the Germanian's analysis of the situation. Fighting a war on two fronts coupled with the plague. "And let our troops be ambushed!"

"You may have lost a member of your family this week, but I don't intend to put my children in harm's way just to satisfy your lust for revenge."

"This isn't just for revenge! This is just further protecting the main lan-" Before the man could finish his sentence a door on the far side of the room flung open. Revealing a Romalian knight who seemed to be in a state of panic.

"Presenting the Gallian emissary, Lady Tabitha of Gallia." The once angry man suddenly stood at attention as a small blue haired girl walked into the room who looked to be no older than fourteen with just how small her body was. But for her to cause even an admiral to rigidly stand at attention even one as young as he was. Just who was she connected to? "And the Tristian Emissary, Louise de La Valliere." Her heart skipped a beat. What was her youngest doing her, wasn't she supposed to be in the academy?

A small girl only a few inches taller than the previous one shyly walked into the room at a slow pace. There was no doubt in her mind that this was her daughter by the way she acted alone. But what caught her attention was the familiar suit of armour she wore and the weapons that covered. She had to fight with all her might to maintain the control over her emotions that was expected of her. Where had she gotten her hands on such an item how long had she been wearing it and why was she covered in weapons of war, hadn't she listen to her?

 _ **JUNG**_

Did he have something to do with this, had that coward given her this suit of armour. Hadn't she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him? She could feel sweat begin to form on her brow as she noticed the bow on her back. She wouldn't break, she couldn't. Her rule of steel wouldn't allow it. But she needed answers, and she needed them now.

"Lady Tabitha, what brings you here." Richelieu started.

"Prisoner and artifact transfer." The blunette responded in a monotone voice.

Karin ignored the conversation and kept her attention on her daughter; she needed answers now. "I'm taking my leave." She stated in a stern voice that made it clear that there was no room for debate. She marched over to her daughter with practice movements. No one dared to stop her, good.

Her daughter grew smaller and smaller with each step she took towards her as she played with her hands. "Hello, mother." She spoke in a meek tone not even raising her mask to greet her.

"Louise." She started in a stern voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I was sent by Princess Henrietta to hand over the box of Destruction to you." Hushed murmurs could be heard coming from around the war room.

"I've never requested the box?"

She seemed to flinch slightly at her response. "Princess Henrietta wanted you to be safe, so she sent me to give you the box."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I see." It was obviously a lie but why? "Now then what's this about a Prisoner transfer?"

"On our way here we were attacked by a group of bandits." Her heart skipped a beat. "We were able to capture their leader who we believe to be a part of Reconquista." The room grew dead silent as everyone's eyes turned to the moon-eyed boy.

"I'll have to send a letter to the pope to see if this justifies action, but if I know him as well as I do, then he will no doubt give us the go ahead. Although we will still need to find the royal family first. Before we do anything." He explained.

The room collectively felt a sigh of relief, the main roadblock that had stopped them from figuring out just what was going on was now gone if this prisoner was part of the insurgents. They could worry about figuring out a way to retrieve the royal family later. Her gaze turned back to her daughter. There was something she needed to focus on. "Julio, since you are the Romalian representative I expect you to handle the Prisoner transfer."

"At once lady Valliere."

"If that is all I will be taking my daughter to my room to debrief her."

"One other thing." The monotone voice of the blue-haired girl asked. "Need to bring aboard a friend."

"Of course Lady Tabitha, We'll bring her on board right away." Richelieu turned towards the Romalian knight. "Bring the other two on board. Now! And place the prisoner in the "Room""

With everything, all said and done. Karin walked by her daughter only ever stating "Follow me." As she left the room.

She guided her through the winding hallways of the ship soon reaching her sleeping quarters near the back of the ship. Opening the door to her room, she walked in with her daughter following close behind her. "Sit." She said as she gestured to a small single bed that sat next to the door.

Louise did as she was told, sitting at the edge of the bed, her arms and legs were squeezed together attempting to make herself as small as possible. Karin, on the other hand, walked over to her desk on the other side of the room. Leaning over, she grabbed hold of a wooden box that sat beside it quickly lifting it and setting it on the desk beside a grease-stained towel that was covered in small metal pieces that she had forgotten to put away. Pulling the top off it revealed the same hay-filled box that contained her Tarbes vintage wine. Pulling open a drawer Karin fished out two metal cups and quickly filled both of them with the purple liquid before handing one glass to her daughter who took it without a second thought.

Karin stared out a window that hung over her desk watching the dragons fly by as she took a sip of her own glass. "You have ten seconds to tell me where you got that suit." She stated causing Louise to nearly choke on the wine

"What?" Louise asked as she recovered.

"You heard me."

"I… summn-" She muttered making it impossible to distinguish what she said.

"Speak clearly."

"I Summoned it."

What?

"I said I summoned it."

Had she said that out loud? She could worry about this later; she needed more information. "How long ago was the summoning."

"Almost three weeks ago."

Karin remained silent for a moment as she processed what her daughter had told her. Placing the mug on the desk she turned to face her, Karin's eye`s piercing the deep red visor that obscured her daughters face. "Take off your helmet."

The mask rose revealing her daughters face. "Do not play smart with me, Take it off." Her head slumped forward as she rose both hands to her head. She twisted her helmet and slowly pulled it off revealing her almost bald head. A feeling of anger began to make themselves known within her but were soon crushed by her rule that she wouldn't break. "Stand." She commanded who followed the order without question.

Walking over to her Daughter she crouched down and grabbed her by the chin. "Look straight ahead" She began to turn her head with her hand as she stared into her eyes looking for anything that could be off with her eyes, but found nothing. "How's the food at the academy?"

Louise seemed confused by the question, "Fine I guess, although with Albionese spices being so hard to come by these days they have stuck to a more local menu."

"And how was this morning's breakfast?"

"I, uh. Well." She stuttered, her pink iris's turned away from her gaze. "I don't know."

"Because you weren't at the academy," Karin stated with a stern voice as she stepped back from her daughter rising to her full height. "Could you explain why we're paying for your schooling that you begged us for when you are simply skipping it?"

"The academy was shut down." She suddenly shouted as she shot to her feet. Karin, however, remained steadfast.

"Why?"

A sudden flash of anger appeared on her face for a single moment, but with a small nod of her head, she centred herself. "The secretary had attempted to kidnap the princess the day prior. I had stopped the attack and safely escorted the princess to the academy." Louise paused for a moment. Karin noticed that she clenched her fists as rage began to burn within her daughter. "That night she attacked me while I was asleep. I tried to fight back, but it was useless."

Her hand was brought to her neck as she began to rub it. Seeing her daughter like this made her mad, no not just mad, furious, whoever had done this to her should hope to never encounter her.

"Thankfully the Princess showed up and saved me. After that, she arrested nearly everyone in the academy as she started an investigation."

"I assume you informed the Duke of your detour then?" Her eyes lowered to her feet in shame. "I expect that you will fix your mistake as soon as we are done here."

"Yes, mother."

Karin's eyes lowered to her daughter's body that was covered in weapons. Something she absolutely despised. "Now can you explain to me why are you armed like an entire regiment?"

She took a deep breath which seemed to calm her down. "I guess I should go through it one by one." Karin nodded. "The bow came with the suit. I don't know why but Colbert said that it was the first double summon in history. The quiver I bought a week after I summoned the suit as I had run out of arrows for it after using them for target practice."

Karin's eyes trailed down to the sword on her hip which seemed to be trembling? "I know that your father taught you how to use a bow but never a sword, so the question has to be asked why are you carrying one in your position?"

She jumped in place. "He tricked me into buying it."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I had assumed that your father had taught you about scams when he began to send you an allowance. But that still doesn't explain why you bought something that you couldn't use."

"Because she's the legendary Gandalfr." Her sword shouted as it popped out of his sheath.

Louise panicked and shoved the sword back into its sheath. "Derf!"

"No, Louise, let him speak." Louise turned to her clearly in shock but soon relented after realizing that a staring match with her mother was always going to be a failure. Karin turned towards the sword on her hip. "What is this Gandalfr you speak of?"

"A Familiar who has a mastery over weapons of course. Sword musket bow or box of destruction. On touch, the Gandalfr knows how to use it."

"Is that the reason why I was able to use the box?" Louise muttered to herself

Karin could feel her headache worsen as she listened to this. "Are you implying that my daughter is a Familiar?"

"Of course not, but the suit of armour she wears is, making her Gandalfr by proxy." She grit her teeth before turning back to her glass of wine that still rested on her desk. Walking over to it she picked it up and drank half the glass in a single gulp. All she wanted was to keep her daughters safe now look at her, armed to the teeth and now this Gandalfr. Was fate mocking her efforts?

"That prisoner that you brought Louise was she the one that attacked you?"

"Yes," Louise replied from out of sight. Good, she'll have something she could do to keep her mind working for the next little while.

"Then that settles it."

Walking over to the bed Karin crouched down, she soon found the silver metal box that rested underneath it and reached underneath it before quickly pulling it out. Standing up she placed it on the bed. She flicked both locks up and opened it revealing a large semi-automatic pistol that she was familiar with, several magazines for the weapon and the thigh holster that she had used to carry it. Grabbing it and a magazine she slowly examined the grey hexagonal pattern that covered the grip and the barrel.

"Since the prisoner transfer will take some time and since you will be needed to sign off on it since it was your group that arrested them, you'll need to stay here for a while. Your party will be assigned rooms but as for you, you're going to be staying in Eleonore's room right next door."

Hovering the pistol's grip over the magazine she slid it in, receiving a small click confirming that it had been locked in place. Grabbing the slide, she slid it back before letting it go allowing a bullet to be chambered. She gently placed it back on the bed as she grabbed hold of the thigh holster. Wrapping it around her leg, she locked it in place using the buckle.

"Sister Eleonore is here?" She asked in shock.

Picking up the pistol once more, she shoved it into her holster before strapping it in. "No, she is currently in port running a small clinic while attempting to research the plague. It is also the port where you'll catch the ship back to the mainland."

"Right mother."

"I also expect you to tell your father that you will be returning home after this small adventure of yours."

"Yes, mother." Karin turned to her desk and walked back over to it. Opening a drawer, she grabbed a small burlap sack and opened it. Grabbing a pair of pliers, a wand and a glass bottle of rubbing alcohol she placed it in the bag before tying it shut. She would need a fire mage and a wind mage on duty twenty-four-seven, preferably someone with some resentment to Reconquista Whoever this person was that had attacked her daughter. They were going to have a long day ahead of them.

xXXXx

 _ **NANOSUIT DATABASE UPDATED**_

 _ **Albonese wind rifle**_

Although they look similar to an ordinary musket, they are anything but. The wind rifle bolsters several advantages to the flintlock technology that the mainland relies on. For one it is the first multi-shot rifle in existence being capable of firing twenty-two fifty-seven calibre balls before needing to reload.

Secondly, it uses air provided by a windstone core as a propellant instead of gunpowder making it an excellent hit and run weapon. It is noticeably quieter than their gunpowder counterpart, on top of the fact that it doesn't release a large cloud of smoke when fired making it hard to spot a shooter that hiding in the trees.

Although it's not all sunshine for the advance commoner weaponry. Due to the use of a windstone core, it is costly for anyone outside of Albion to purchase. Not only that but after only thirty-three shots, the windstone needs to be replaced which can be hard to do in the heat of battle.

 _ **CARGO**_ _ **PROCEDURE**_

Cargo procedure is the different ways cargo can be transferred between ships. Currently, there is a total of six different procedures officially recognized by the Halkgenia flying merchants guild one being the simplest to perform and six being the hardest.

 **Procedure one**

Procedure one is a simple port to port transfer of goods using machinery and manpower provided by the facility to move the cargo from one ship to the other. Chance of Failure is low, and it was the most common type of transfer taking place.

 **Procedure two**

Procedure two is the first real ship to ship transfer. The ships are positioned next to each other holding position just a few meters away from each other. Cargo hangers are open and using several boarding planks required on every ship in compliance with the guild's regulations move cargo across from hanger to hanger once the boards are nailed down. Chance of Failure is low, but death can occur if you don't secure yourself while performing the transfer.

 **Procedure three**

Procedure three is used when one or more of your hanger cables are either damaged or have simply fallen off the ship due to human error. The ships are placed next to each and using mages the cargo is levitated up to the upper deck before being moved to the receiving ship. Chance of failure is possible depending on how worked the mages are but if the mages are well rested there should be nothing to worry about.

 **Procedure four**

Procedure four is the third most complicated procedure for good reason. The ship carrying the cargo is placed above the cargo pit of the receiving ship. Ropes are thrown down and secured by the receiving ship's crew in order to secure its position for step two. The hangers are opened and using a pulley system anchored to the hanger doors themselves the cargo is lowered to the receiving ship. Chance of failure is medium to the unpredictable nature of the wind which can cause the shipment to begin to sway too and frow.

 **Procedure five**

Procedure five is only able to be used when a carrier is involved and when one is not able to secure the ship ether due to a disaster (a fire, Critical windstone breakdown.) or the ships integrity has been degraded to such a point where all other procedures are too risky to perform. Using heavy lift mounts (Fire dragons, Manticores), The cargo is physically carried from one vessel to another without the cargo carrier being placed in harm's way. It should be noted that a skilled enough mage may be able to get by with a wind dragon if they are able to levitate the cargo to take the weight of the dragon itself. Chance of Failure is high as each mount can vary in strength. This is only to be used as a last resort.

 **Procedure six**

Procedure six is the riskiest and hardest Procedure to perform. It combines the precarious situation of Procedure five with the added risk of combat. A quick resupply in the line of combat can sometimes be necessary if one wishes to survive and win a battle. But to so requires skilled people on all sides. Wind mages will support creating a smoke screen of clouds using their magic. Using this as cover the cargo ship will get as close as possible before heavy lift mounts come to pick up the supplies and transfer it to the people that need it. Chance of failure is extream. mounts under fire can cause them to be erratic making it extremely easy for the supplies to fall off.

 ** _Excerpt from: the rule of flying: an introduction to the flying merchant's guild._**

 _ **ROUGE WINDS**_

Windstones is what hold Albion in the air, in order to do this, they require a massive amount of power, so much so that it can sometimes become unstable as we've seen with firestones. In the past few years as earthquakes become more of a regular sighting upon the floating island have led some scholars to believe that it is beginning to vent the surge that initially caused it to rise into the clouds in the first place. Every now and then an earthquake can shake parts of the underside of Albion loss causing them to fall into the ocean below.

This sometimes reveals windstones although which will then rapidly expel their energy causing a large torrent of wind to shoot out of the new hole in the island knocking any ships caught in its path off course. By itself, it's not much of an issue but combine that with the fact that it will cause a chain reaction causing the windstone powering your ship to being to expel its magic at a rapid rate and you have a recipe for disaster that ends with your ship crashing into the ocean.

xXXXx

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _So yeah, sorry about that small hiatus I went on, I'll try not to end up doing that again but like I said up top, I'm switching to a bi-weekly schedule for now._**

 ** _I was also planning on having Karin torcher Matilda but I dropped in the end just because some of my ideas were a little extreme. I will touch on it next chapter but for now just use your imagination._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in two weeks. hopefully. be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews._**


	20. Chapter 20: The Floating island part 1

Karin stood above the person who had attacked her daughter not once, not twice, but three times. Matilda de Saxe Gotha. The adoptive daughter of Harold de Saxe Gotha, Brother of King James. There were always rumours surrounding that man, about him being a womanizer with more concubines then sense but the few times that she had met the man told her that he was nothing of the sort. He was kind and caring which made her wonder why he never accepted any of the marriage proposals brought before him.

"I'll. Never. Say. A. word. You. Bitch." Matilda said through ragged breath and soaked burlap sack mask Bringing her back to reality. Yes, she was in "The room." A bleak metal room in the bowels of the ship, illuminated with a single lamp in the center of the room and the only piece of furniture being a wooden table that the person under interrogation would be tied down to. Across the table were two other people. Both of them standing by her head.

Justin Portier one of the few Albonese dragon knights that were lucky enough to have been off the island when the quarantine was put in place and Lise Bernier, another member of the manticore knights and a woman that she had known since she was a child. Both of them wore executioner's garbs. Dark tunics that covered their entire body, as well as a dark mask that obscured their face, even their eyes were covered with goggles made of Smokey quartz. The garb was chosen to induce fear in her to intimidate. To make this worthless piece of filth feel the terror that she put her daughter through. In fact, everything in this room was chosen by her in order to make this interrogation go as smoothly as possible. Even the burlap dress that Matilda wore was chosen by her for two reasons. It was uncomfortable to wear, and two. It provided no protection to the elements which were perfect for her holding cell which formally belonged to a griffin. Its hanger door was too be kept open in order to make sure that she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Justin was chosen due to his hatred of Reconquista, making him less likely to empathize with her. Lise, on the other hand, had an unwavering, almost fanatical loyalty to her. She hasn't and wouldn't question her orders no matter how brutal they got. The three teeth that sat in a nearby tray by a pair of bloody pliers was proof of that. She had

"You can stop this, all you need to do is tell us who you work for." Karin asked in a stern voice. She already knew who she worked for; she knew it the moment she laid eyes on the green-haired woman, who was if the reports were right. The last of the Saxe-Gotha line.

"Fuck, you!" Karin only turned to the pair and nodded which they returned. Justin placed a hand just below her neck to hold her chest down while putting his other hand on the top of her head. Lise brought up a bucket full of water and hovered it over the masked face of Matilda and began to pour it onto the burlap sack. The green haired girl's reaction was immediate, she thrashed and struggled against the man and the restraints but both held firm.

"Do you work for Reconquista!" The pair shouted as she continued to thrash.

"N-. No." She struggled to say through the simulated drowning.

"Do you work for Reconquista!" They repeated.

"N-." She never finished the sentence as water began to fill their lungs.

Karin scratched her chin; her will was something to be respected. Not many could handle waterboarding for such a long time. She would have to take a different approach. Raising a hand, Lise immediately stopped pouring and stepped back, they quickly undone the straps and rolled the woman off the table, who landed with a thump. She hacked up all the water that had entered her lungs "Breath Matilda." Karin ordered as she slowly marched around the table, making sure to make each step she took as audible as possible until she stood directly over the woman's head. Reaching down, she yanked the sack off revealing the woman's face. "We can ether keep going doing this for the next few hours, or, you can tell us what we want to know." She told her.

Matilda turned her head, allowing the older women to see that venomous glare. "Never."

She stared at the woman for a single moment before turning to the pair. "Bring in the box." The pair nodded and left the room. Leaving both prisoner and torturer alone. Matilda seemed content with using this small respite to lay on the floor. She couldn't blame her; they had been going at this for the past four or so hours, using various methods she picked up over the years to extract the information she wanted. But if there was one thing she learned it was the best way to extract information wasn't to cause physical pain. It was the wounds that you couldn't see that hurt the most. But she wasn't about to let an enemy relax.

She walked over to a bucket of ice water that rested in the corner. Something she had prepared for just such an occasion. Picking it up, she turned back to the green haired woman. Placing a hand on the bottom of the bucket, she threw the water at the woman who let out a sharp scream of shock.

Before she could say anything, the metal door opened once more. Justin and Lise walked in carrying a small wooden box, only tall enough for a person to kneel inside. The pair pushed the table aside and set the box down in the center of the room. Marching over to the shivering Matilda. She bent down and grabbed the back of her neck. Yanking her to her feet, she marched her over to her the box, stopping just before she walked into it. "Get inside!" Justin shouted into her ear who accepted the order without much fighting. "Down!"

When she didn't move, she forced her inside before slamming the top of the box shut. Justin walked around it and locked it shut.

Karin turned to the pair. "Keep her in the box for a few hours. Now and then bang on it to startle her." The pair nodded. "After that get her cleaned up, heal her, whatever you need to do. Then toss her back into her holding cell. Keep the bay doors open to let in a draft."

"It will be done Duchess."

"Then I shall leave her in your care." Turning on her heel, she left the room finding herself out in the damp, dark hallway. A disadvantage of the cloud generator was that the entire underbelly of the ship where the holding cells were located was always wet. This led to a mold problem which would have to be taken care of every now and again.

"Ah miss Valliere, I've been looking for you." Turning towards the source of the voice, she found a smiling viscount Wardes approaching her. A hard scowl formed on her face as she walked over to meet him

"I've been meaning to speak with you as well viscount." His smile ran away from him as a look of confusion took root. She drew closer until they were standing face to face. "Might I ask why there wasn't a report on my desk the moment you arrived?"

His mouth parted slightly; his body was utterly petrified. "I'm sorry but-"

"I have no time for your excuses Viscount. I thought I made it clear when I was training you that reports are the most important thing about being a knight. You had four days to write it there is no excuse. I had to ask that child of an admiral for that young Gallian's report because she remembered her duty better than the captain of the Tristian griffin knights."

He flinched "I und-" He started but was quickly cut off as Karin continued her rant.

"You know how that makes Tristian look in the eyes of Gallia?"

"Incompetent."

"I'm glad we cleared that up. Now if you excuse me, I have to get back to writing letters to the families whose sons and daughters were lost." She pushed herself past him when the viscount reached out and stopped her. Turning around, she narrowed her eyes.

"There is something I was meant to tell you. The ship is changing course. We're making a beeline to port as the team that is to find the royal family has been chosen."

"How has Julio gotten approval already?"

The viscount shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know but what concerns me are his picks."

"Who?"

"He claims that it is due to personnel shortages. With so many back on the mainland taking their leave were short on men."

"Who Viscount." She ordered.

"Julio himself will lead the team. He's taking with him the blue-haired Gallian, and Louise."

She ground her teeth as rage began to boil within her. "Absolutely not. She's not getting involved with this mess."

"Julio has already made up his mind. He claims he wants people he can trust."

"And how could he be sure that everyone else is trust worthy."

"The Gallian was meant to marry Richelieu when she turned seventeen up until a few years ago when their marriage was dissolved. As for your daughter. Well. She's your daughter."

Karin yanked her arm away from the viscount. "I'll go in her stead then."

His expressional hardened. "Duchess you know full well that I respect you. But this is madness. Your body isn't what is us-"

"Your concern has been duly noted, Viscount." Her voice oozing venom. "But I suggest that if you don't want to be cleaning the Griffin bays till you get off my ship, you'll end this line of questioning right here." She growled walking away she had to prepare for this mission she taking. Even the heaviest winds must turn silent at some point.

xXXXx

Confusion, that was the only word that Louise could use to describe her situation. She found herself crouched over of wooden box examining it in the middle of a jungle instead of her sister room where she was supposed to be napping, her armoured arms pulled the top off of the box revealing some maps and supplies. The grass beneath her was frosted over. Like the morning dew had been suddenly frozen. But the weird thing was that she had no control over her body. It was as if she was viewing the world from someone else's eyes. But why and how were questions that she just had no answers to?

"Bout time you showed up." a male voice said from behind her in a weird accent that she had never heard before. she tried to turn around but it proved useless she had no control over this. "You believe this?" The same voice said. Her body paid them no attention choosing to continue to sift through the box's contents.

"Looks like someone had a little trouble parking their boat." A new voice said in the same accent as the first.

'Boat?' Had an airship crashed? She once again tried to get her head to turn, but it was no use

"We seem to have hit a dead-end. And I've lost our secure channel to JSOC. Too much electrical interference on this island." As the first voice said this her body had seemed to have found what he was looking for a map of some kind. It appeared to be an island that she just couldn't recognize.

Her body stood up as it continued to examine the map. From what she knew about reading maps it looked as if they were in a mountainous region. In the corner of the map was a small red circle that was highlighting a valley. Turning to a pair of men She dark-skinned man with robust features speaking with a person whose features were hidden by his suits mask. But the thing that caught her off guard was the fact that he was wearing her suit the only difference was that it looked a little bulkier. Everyone around her had suits like hers what was going on.

"Hey boss. I got something." He tossed the map to the dark-skinned man who was apparently her bodies leader. "Topographic map. There's an area highlighted." The leader caught the map and quickly began to examine it.

"This valley here must be where the excavation site is located."

"How can you be sure?" Her body asked as the man lowered the map.

"I'm not, but it's all we've got to go on." He turned to the man standing beside him. "We need to get moving"

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers." Her body interrupted as it turned to the leader's partner. "I'm not buying that locate and evacuate bullshit anymore."

"Yeah since when do the North Koreans have themselves motherfuckin' freeze ray?" A voice from out of sight asked causing her body to turn to find another dark-skinned man in a suit, standing in the shadow of a giant frozen metal ship. She felt herself taken back by shock, just where was she. Metal ships were nothing but a fantasy that only the elves had achieved, but here was a large metal ship? Could she be observing some Elven mission going on right now? But then how did she understand them?

She couldn't help but notice a blonde woman with long hair sitting by the ship facing away from her. She was entirely out of place without a suit of her own; it also seemed that no one even knew she was there.

"Damn straight I feel like I've just jumped into a bloody comic-book here!" Her body asked as it turned back to the leader.

"I've told you everything you need to know." The leader explained.

"That's bollocks, and you know it!" She could feel her bodies anger. "Aztec's dead, and we ain't got the first idea what killed him."

"I saw him up, close boss. He was mutilated. Ripped in two. I mean what are we dealing with here. cause it ain't just Korean's." The man by the boat said

Her body pointed at him. "Jester's right. If this Rosenthal guy was a proper nut. We wouldn't be here!"

The leader threw the map onto the ground as he took a step towards her, bringing two fingers up to his face to exaggerate the point. "Cut the crap Psycho." was that her bodies name? "You've all been fully briefed. Our job is to find those people, and that's what we're going to do. We're moving out now, and that's."

Before he could finish that sentence, a loud roar echoed through the jungle. "What the." She heard Jester say as the group looked around for the source, finding nothing but natural jungle landscape.

"Something's here." Her body said, backing up and grabbing and readying the strange gun from her training dreams. The roar circled the small clearing they were in. Soon coming to rest just behind the boat. The metal groaned as the beast worked it. The ship exploded throwing everyone to the ground as the world faded before she could see the monster. Screams coming from Jester filled her ears.

"It's got Jester." Her body said.

"We have to go. We have to go now!"

xXXXx

The loud sound of knocking at the door roused Louise from her dream. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a bed in the corner of her room on the RTN Henry. Tossing the covers off of her body she sat up. Looking around, she found Derf propped up against the end table next to her bed that her helmet rested on that was covered in the soft orange glow of the sun setting. "Psycho." She muttered to herself, who was he and why did she see the world through his eyes. And what was with that woman?

Her gaze was drawn to a small desk outfitted with a mirror. Her weapons were scattered upon it. Her pink eyes gazed into her reflection, streaks of tears could be seen running across her face. Bringing up a gloved hand, she ran a finger through the tear streaks before raising it to her eyes which only confirmed that she didn't imagine it. But that still left the question why was she crying? Prophet, Jester Nomad and Aztec. Those names ran through her mind as a wave of sadness and anger hit her. Why did she feel sad about those names? Why did it feel like something terrible happened to them and that they needed to be avenged?

The same knocking sound came from the door. "One second." She said wiping away the tears once more. A tiny yawn came from the end table. Turning, she found Derf popped out of his sheath.

"Morning partner." He spoke his lack of sleep seeping into the tone of his voice.

"I don't think its morning." She replied

"Well, that would explain why I feel so tired."

Yawning herself, she tossed her legs off the side of her bed and stood up. Strolling over to the door while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she opened the door. The haze of just waking up instantly vanished, being replaced by a look of shock as she opened the door revealing the tall, handsome figure of the Viscount. "Hello, my Louise."

"V-v-viscount?" She stuttered

"May I come in?" He said with a warm smile.

"O-o-of course." She stepped aside allowing him to enter.

The man stepped into the room. He examined the room as sauntered over to her bed where he sat down. "I like what you did to your hair."

"My, hair?" She muttered. Turning to her mirror once more, she noticed that her once long pink hair was now nothing more than a faint pink stubble atop her head. Her face flushed with heat. How had she not noticed that? "It wasn't really my decision my suit has been cutting my hair shorter and shorter." Why had it decided on taking even more of her hair? She wanted to scream, to get mad, to vent, to curse this damned suit. But she couldn't do it in front of the Viscount, not in front of her future husband.

"Well, I say it doesn't matter what hair style you're going for. You're still that sweet girl underneath it."

She ignored the comment fear catching fire. "I-I-I-if I may ask Viscount. why are you here?" She asked trying to change the subject

He turned to her as the smile ran away from his face. "I've been sent to tell you that we've arrived at port." He paused for a moment as if he was attempting to find his next words. "Louise could you come and sit with me." He said patting a spot next to him. Louise averted her gaze from the man as her face turned red with embarrassment. Slowly she made her way over to the bed and sat down beside him. "Could I have your left hand, please?"

She reached over and held out her hand palm down. The viscount grabbed hold of it and reached back into some hidden pocket. He brought his hand back and covered her hand with it for but a mere moment. When he pulled away, Louise could only gasp at the sight. A beautiful silver ornate ring with a large gem in the center which glowed bright blue. "Viscount, what is this?" She asked as she continued to examine the obviously expensive ring.

The man chucked while raising his own hand, revealing a ring that was exactly the same as hers. "They call them lovers rings." Louise could feel the heat building in her face from the name alone. "And they only come in pairs. Both rings are connected. The closer the are the brighter they get. It's made so that even when worlds apart. those who love each other have a way of finding their way back into each other's arms."

"But, why are you giving them to me?" Louise asked as she turned to him.

The smile once again faded. "I was informed that you would be leaving tomorrow." Tomorrow? "But I won't be returning with you. My time off is up, and I am to return to my post."

"O-Oh." Her gaze shifted back to the ring.

"This is dangerous work Louise, and I might not be coming home. The ring will never lose its shine so long as I'm alive, but if I were to die in the line of duty, it would let you know right away. And if it does, I want you to find another man. To forget about me and live your life."

She turned to him, eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What are you saying Wardes!" How could one of the few people that always believed in her be saying something like this.

"I'm saying that I may not be coming back to the mainland. The ships that have gone missing, Reconquista, the plague. All of these things can hurt and kill me. And I'm not sure I have to power to face it all."

Grabbing his hand in hers, she stared up at him. "Then let me give you my power. My magic may be worthless but this suit, it has the power you need. I'll stand beside you. So that way you can survive!" She shouted pouring all of her emotions into her voice.

"Louise." He muttered under his breath. "You know your mother wouldn't approve."

"I don't care!" She shouted. "She never believed in me." She could feel tears begin to roll down her face. "The only people that ever have been you, my sister and the princess. And now you're telling me to let one of the few people that believed in me to let him go off and die." Her heart pounded, and voice cracked as she began to sob.

A finger was brought to her chin and tilted her head up to face the Viscount. Who only had that warm smile that calmed her. "Louise." He said softly as he leaned in.

She closed her eyes making no attempt to stop the man. Her core began to heat up as their lips met, his grey mustache tickled her. Although she was inexperienced it felt natural; It felt right. Her previous questions on what is love were answered at that moment. This feeling of belong, of being held by someone who would die for you. That was love.

Her arms instinctively wrapping around him pulling him deeper into the confusing embrace she found herself in. She shouldn't be doing this she attempted to tell herself, this wasn't the time for this. What if mother found them like this? But the comfort she felt from superseded that idea. She didn't care. She wanted this, as selfish as it made it sound.

After what felt like hours he pulled away leaving her breathless. She couldn't help but feel saddened by the loss of contact. "Then that's what we'll do." He said with a smile as he wiped away the tears that marred her face. "I'm being placed on an auxiliary ship that will always be quite a ways away from the command ship now that I've lost my griffin. We'll have to sneak you aboard, but in the end, I should be able to claim that you are a sudden addition to the ship's crew. You'll also need to lie to your family, tell them that you're staying with Henrietta."

"R-r-right." She quickly got out of bed and headed over to the desk, hoping to find a piece of paper to write the letter to her family.

The bed groaned from behind her as the Viscount no doubt stood up. "Although I think that can wait. Your mother asked me to tell you to gather all your things." Turning Louise found the Viscount by the door "I'm sorry to cut this short Louise but I need to get going."

"Oh." She told him while turning away from him. She wanted to stop him; she didn't want him to go, to lose him. Two arms suddenly wrapped around her pulling her into a warm hug. Her eyes closed as she did the same.

"I was thinking Louise. Perhaps next time I get an extended period of time off, we should get married."

She slowly looked up at the handsome visage of her husband to be. "Really? But what about the quarantine."

"Yes." He said with a smile as he pulled her closer. "It may be years before its lifted, and I don't want to waste what little time we have left on this planet."

Pulling away she looked up at him confused. "What do you mean?"

Wardes pulled away from her placing a hand upon her nearly hairless head. "Have you ever thought about age. Louise?"

She shook her head.

"Humans if we're lucky, live for seventy years. If you have money, you can expect to live to maybe eighty-five. As humans, we don't have the time like the other first-born species. It's also the reason why we humans have been advancing as fast as we are. Unlike the elves that are content to simply sit out their thousand years of life doing nothing, we need to make the most of our time. Which is why I wish to get married as soon as possible."

Heat began to rise in her face but she wouldn't let it stop her. "Then that's what we'll do."

The viscount let out a sigh as he pulled his hand off of her head. "Well. I think I need to get going now. It's best not to keep your mother waiting. Until we see each other again Louise." He left the room leaving Louise alone.

She slumped back into the desk's chair as she let out a breath. "Well, Congratulations girly seems like I'll be getting another partner sometime in the future" The sword chuckled. She didn't complain, or retort. She was too busy imagining her future.

A large grin made its way onto her face. She was going to be married to Viscount Wardes the captain of the griffin knights, in only a few months' time. She was once apprehensive about the marriage but the nearly weeklong journey she had found herself on with her fiance had proven to her that he was the right person for her and she only had one person to thank for that. "Thank you, Henrietta." She muttered to herself. She had to write to her, explain the situation.

Shifting over to the desk, she Opened the drawer, she fished out a quill and ink as well as a piece of paper soon beginning to write. Was it too early to start planning the whole the ceremony?

"Pinky don't you think you should be doing what your husband to be told you to do?" She was suddenly brought back to reality, that was right her mother wanted to see her. Standing up she quickly got her belts on and grabbed Derf, her dagger, her quiver and bow before rushing out the door.

xXXXx

Stepping out onto the deck of the ship, she found an outline of her mother standing on the portside of the boat. All the details were blocked by the glare of the sun at her back, but it appeared as if she was gazing out at island that they were circling. She couldn't help but feel entranced by the scenery in front of her. The small town of Port Fowey was off in the distance surrounded by large walls. The entire town turned fortress was bathed in a beautiful orange light. Behind it was the massive Albion mountain range that blocked off access to the norther part of the island. The only accessible route was through a small valley in the east, which housed the now ruined city of Saxe-Gotha.

The ship was drifting closer to a wooden two floored dock that hung off the edge of the island. Something that was built specifically for the RTN Henry "Beautiful isn't it?" Her mother asked from beside her.

Turning, she found her mother standing beside her in a different armour than before. She wore green pants which were tucked into some expensive looking black heavy boots. She wore black segmented knee pads which would help her if she needed to crouch down. On her hip was that strange looking pistol from yesterday.

Her chest was covered in a grey hexagonal hooded vest that was covered in straps. A knife could be seen on the right side of her stomach. She had black shoulder pads, which lead to the black and green arm amour ending at black, gray gloves. Black armour covered her back. The word CELL taking up much of the back. The word CELL and that S looked to have been cut down the middle was branded on many spots all around the armour. She had to wonder just what it meant.

The thing that shocked her the most was her mother's hair, which was cut short. She shook herself from her thoughts she needed to focus right now. "You called for me mother?"

"Yes." She started continuing to stare at the city in the distance. "I'm heading to see your sister Eleonore before I leave on a mission, and I figured you would want to come."

She bit her lip. Her sister was always tough on her when it came to the most trivial things, but if she were to see her like this. "I think I would rather stay here for the night."

"It wasn't a question."

Louise pursed her lips as her head fell to face her boots. She should have figured that was the case. A loud horn echoed throughout the land scape as several ropes were tossed onto the deck. "Get those ropes secured!" A male voice shouted. Looking up, she found the dock was right next to them. The personnel working the port all wore white porcelain beaks combined with flying goggles.

"Masks on Louise." Her mother said. As she pulled out a tiny black device from a green backsac that sat next to a long metal case at her mother's feet that she had yet to notice.

The device went over her nose and mouth acting like the porcelain bird masks the dock workers wore. With but a thought her mask came down covering her face.

"Are you still not able to cast levitate?" Her mother asked as she picked up both the backsac and large metal case. She shook her head. Her mother said nothing as she pulled out an unseen wand from her belt. She could see the faint movement of her mother's lips. She suddenly felt weightless.

The pair began to cross the gap, Her mother seemed relaxed by the action, but for Louise, it was a whole other story. As soon as she saw the clouds below her, she couldn't help but feel nauseous. Bile rose from her gut as a sense of vertigo took over her senses. It wasn't half a minute later when they landed, Louise collapsing to her knees. Her mother only sighed. Raising her wand once more, Louise was pulled from the ground and stood upright. "Follow me." Her mother stated.

Karin led her through the maze of cargo and men that dotted the dock. Eventually, they arrived at the gate to the port which was manned by four guards. All of which were armed with wands and muskets. They all wore large porcelain bird masks that obscured their entire face. Their armour consisted of a large green tunic that covered the entirety of the upper body which looked about as tough as leather could be when left out in the cold. It was also covered by a layer of plate mail, and no doubt had a layer of chain mail to support it underneath.

Although, that armour design wasn't universal. After they were granted entry to the city proper Louise found a wider variety of both armour, leather, gambeson, chain and plate, but one thing was common among all the people, they covered their mouths. Obviously, not everyone could afford the porcelain masks that the guards and dock workers wore, but they made due mostly, old cloths strapped to the face by twine. But the oddest mask she saw was a burlap sack with two eye holes cut out of it.

The town its self, was a bigger maze then the dock What didn't help was the fact that the main street was closed off. Not to mention the countless check points set up in nearly every intersection with curtains put up in order to block one's line of sight. This was her first taste of how the quarantine affected the people who lived in the city. They had to wait in line while the person in front of him was checked, he was then clear to pass, but as he entered the intersection, another guard followed behind him with a small burlap sack and some twine in hand. A short scream was all she heard from that man before it was silenced.

They got through after being examined by a water mage who didn't give their strange armour a second glance. However, it was another three check points till they reached a quaint building on the corner of an intersection which housed yet another checkpoint. The only sign that this was the clinic was the sign over top the small door that showed two water serpents snaking around a metal pole with wings.

The door to the clinic caught her attention. The curtains were pulled shut, and the sign in the window said that they were closed. It confused her, her sister wasn't the type to take breaks or shut down, so why was this place closed? Her mother didn't seem to care, however, and opened the door none the less.

The reception room of the clinic was dimly lit. All the chairs that circled the room were covered in dust making them look as if they hadn't been used in weeks. The counter where a clerk would sit was bare save for a lone plant that looked as alive as this clinic. All around her were many paintings of calming landscapes from around Halk giving the clinic an older feeling then newer clinics who prefer their diagrams of various body parts.

There was a set of swinging doors on the left side of the counter that allowed both patents and people working to access the back while having their hands full. Behind the counter was a hallway that lead out and into the back of the building.

Looking up at her mother, she watched as she pulled her mask off. The expression on her face hardened. Letting out a huff, she marched forward passing the counter and entered the back of the building.

Louise having nothing else to do, cautiously followed her mother. The hallway was much of the same as the rest of the building. Dusty paintings and just a general feeling of neglect blanketed the atmosphere of this no doubt once fine establishment. Every room she passed was barren, save for the few wooden boxes that were strewn about the rooms. The only room that seemed to have any life was the one at the end of the hall, thanks to the light that emanated from it and the subtle sounds of what she could only assume was someone packing things away.

"May I ask what you're doing?" Her mother's voice said coming from the room which was followed by a terrified scream. A scream that she knew well as her sister Eleonore.

"Mother!? What are you doing here?" The voice of her sister shouted, causing her to stop in her tracks. Sweat began to form on her brow as her mind started to try and figure out just how her sister would react to her being here.

"I came to check up on you. Am I not allowed to make sure my Daughter's work is going smoothly?" Her mother's stern voice broke her out of her stupor. She would have to either wait for her mother to force her out in the open or do it herself. Steadying herself, she moved forward, rounding the corner to the sight of her sister sitting at her desk clothed in the same heavy looking dark green robe as the soldiers manning the checkpoints only without the bird mask which resided on the desk. Her long blonde hair ran down off of her head, resting on the back of the chair. Her gaze was fixated on her mother who was standing right of the doorway obviously to let her through.

Her sister raised an eyebrow at her arrival as she adjusted her glasses. "Who's this mother? The armour kind of looks like one of yours, mother. Is she another one of your disciples?"

Louise could hear a faint deep groan escape her lips. "This is the reason why I came to see you today." She didn't even need to turn towards her mother to figure out that she was glaring at her, she could feel her mother's gaze on the top of her head. Piercing her helmet head and skull which burrowed deep into her very soul. "Why don't you introduce yourself."

The same fear that she felt as a child when she would accidentally break stuff with her magic resurfaced. Knowing that her mother meant to take off her helmet not just her mask, she repeated her actions from this morning only slowing her movements as much as possible, without it irritating her mother or sister. Twisting her helmet, she pulled it off.

Her sister upon seeing her face shot up to her full size of five foot seven completely dwarfing her tiny frame. "Louise what are you doing here!" Louise could only flinch at the shout. Her sister's eyes were clear windows to the fire that resided in her soul. "What did you do to your hair? And those weapons? Are you trying to look like some low born savage?" She shouted, stomping forward only to be stopped when her mother stepped in between them.

"That is not of our concern right now." Her mother stated ending the argument before it could start.

Her sister gave a passing glance to her mother. "And what is."

Her mother turned away from the group and began to pace around the room, circling the bed in the center of it. "I'm heading to the interior, due to this mission I can't keep an eye on my daughter. If she is foolish enough to come running to Albion."

Eleonore, seemingly getting what her mother was going for finished the sentence. "And you want me to make sure that she heads home instead of, for instance chasing after you." Her mother nodded.

Her heart skipped a beat. "I promise I won't!" Louise shouted as she looked between the two elder figures in the room, both of their eyes turned to glare at her. She shrunk back down turning away from them. It was clear that there would be no winning of this argument.

"I need you to make sure she ends up on the RTN Isabelle tomorrow." Her mother added continuing to glare at her. "I hope this doesn't interfere with your research."

"It works out." Eleonore turned to her mother. "It's the ship I'm taking tomorrow." It was her mother's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Clinic is shutting down."

"For what reason?"

Her sister fell back into her seat, her gaze locked onto the floor in front of her. "For a multitude of reasons." Pulling off her glasses she began to clean them. "It all leads back to General nepotism. First, he pulls out all the water mages working with me and sets them up on checkpoint duty, then a week ago he comes in takes all of my samples of the plague all the living and dead infected. And to top it all off now any type of sickness found in people is treated like it's part of the plague, meaning there is no sick for me to treat." Her voice got louder and louder as rage began to surface in her sister's eye's, She swore that she saw tears beginning to form at the corner of her sisters' eyes.

"So you have no purpose being here." Her mother completed her thought. "I'll have to go and speak with him about the priorities of this quarantine."

Her sister suddenly chuckled as she placed the glasses back onto her face. "Your welcome to try mother, but you have to remember he's Romalian. Him as well as his superiors all believe that this is a holy mission for them."

Out of the corner of her eye, Louise could see her mother's expression harden once more. "Well, if that's that, I will be going. My transport is waiting."

"Wait." Eleonore suddenly called out stopping their mother in her tracks. She reached back onto her desk and grabbed a small paper off of it before turning back to their mother. "Here is what I learned about the sickness. Since you're heading to the interior, I figured you would have like to know how it worked."

Her mother took the piece of paper and looked it over. She hummed before folding it and putting it into a pouch on her hip. "Thank you, Eleonore. I'll be sure to use this. Now I must go." Without uttering another word, Her mother left leaving the two sisters alone.

Her sister sprung forward pinching her cheek before she could react, the fire returning to her eyes evaporating any tears that remained. "You still haven't answered me." She growled.

"Sister... please..." Louise muttered.

Eleonore didn't relent and continued to tug on her cheek. "That's not an answer."

"Princess needed help... chose to help her."

Her sister suddenly let go of her causing her to stumble back into an empty bookcase while rubbing her cheek in an attempt to snuff out the pain "What would Henrietta need help with that would require you, Louise?" Her sister questioned.

"That's a secret," Louise told her as she continued to rub her cheek.

Narrowing her eyes, Eleonore pointed to where her hair used to be. "Then what about this? Are you trying to pass off as a man now?"

Biting her lip, Louise turned away in shame. "That would be because of my suit of armour. It's been cutting my hair shorter and shorter, and I don't know why."

"Then why are you wearing it?"

"Because it gives me the power to help the people I care about." Her sister once again narrowed her eyes.

Eleonore let out an audible sigh. Reaching into some unseen pocket on the robes, she pulled out a key before tossing it to Louise who promptly caught it. "There is an inn next door that I'm staying at. That is the key to my room."

Louise looked at the key, surprised to see just how much her elder sister was trusting her. "But mother asked you to keep an eye on me, why are you giving me this?"

A harsh scowl formed on her sister's face. "Don't think that I'm letting you go free." Grabbing a wand from her desk, she muttered an incantation. "Ventum petulans." Louise suddenly felt something constricting around her neck, looking down she saw nothing, reaching up only confirmed that nothing was there. She looked back to her sister and noticed a small hazy fog that covered her right hand.

"Wind tether," Louise muttered as memories of the spell rushed back to her. It was a spell that she was familiar with, whenever her sister needed to take care of her she would always use this in order to keep track of where she was.

Her sister smiled. "Yep, so don't even think about going exploring because I'll know, you are to head straight to the inn."

Louise let out a small sigh. "Yes, sister. But what will you be doing if you're telling me to go by myself?"

"I." She turned to look around the room. "Want to pay my respects to this establishment." She said in a sombre tone

Louise let out another sigh. "I'll head over there now." Having nothing else to say Louise turned and left the room.

As she began to walk down the hallway, her sword popped out his sheath. "Well, I must say, partner, your family is rather interesting. I mean are they all like that? Or is it just your mother and sister?"

A smile formed on her face as thoughts of her kind elder sister Cattleya filled her head "Just them." She said as she left the clinic.

xXXXx

The brisk nighttime air rushed passed her like it had so many times before. Karin sat atop a rare albino wind dragon that was thought to be extinct for well over a century. Yet the Romalian had one.

"Were coming up on drop point two get ready Duchess."

The Romalian broke her from her thoughts. This wasn't the time for idle thoughts. The plan was simple, due to the amount of land they were going to need to cover, they were going to split up. The Gallian was going to infiltrate cities in order to gather information that could lead to finding the royal family; this was aided by the fact that they had seen an old tattered Albionese wind mage uniform. Normally this wouldn't work, but Reconquista being strapped for resources only recoloured their old uniforms making creating a fake extremely easy.

The Romalian was doing something similar. His destination was a village up in the Albion mountain range, a place where his apparent informants would meet up with. To play the part of a traveller, he was clothed in simple commoner clothes armed with nothing but a normal sword.

"Drop now Duchess," Julio commanded.

She gritted her teeth but swallowed her pride; she had to focus. Tossing the large aluminum case off of the dragon, she brought her left leg over the spine of the dragon and let herself slide down its leg, using her free hand to stabilize her. Reaching the bottom of its leg, she kicked off of it.

Angling her body, she dove headfirst towards the ground. The air zoomed past her, the only defence against the wind was the earphones she wore as well as the ski mask and blue goggles that ran across the bridge of her nose protected her from the onslaught of rushing wind.

Below her, the metal case which housed the weapon she would be using during this mission. It tumbled in the air pulling her wand from her belt she aimed it at the box and cast levitate. It slowed enough for her to catch up to it and grabbed it.

Turning her focus back to the ground that was rushing to meet her, she began to prepare herself. The earth below her belonged to a field of cabbage which looked almost ready to harvest it was situated next to a forest which would provide the perfect cover for her just in case anyone saw her decent. Casting levitate once more on herself she spun herself around as she slowed herself to a stop just several feet from the ground.

As soon as her boots touched the ground, she holstered her wand and broke out into a sprint. It took less than half a minute to reach the forest line. Coming to a stop, she turned her gaze to the night sky looking for any sign that they were followed. After a minute of nothing, she entered the forest. The tree canopy was blocking out the moonlight making her have to take it slow lest she twist her ankle on some unseen root.

Once she was some distance inside the forest, Karin stopped dead in her tracks. Taking a moment to look around, she placed the metal case on the ground in front of her. Pulling off her backpack, she opened it and rummaged through it soon finding what she was looking for. A map which was too dark to read. However, she could make out some of the highlighted areas. The Gallian's drop point and her initial target a small town of Midhurst only a few miles away from her drop point. The Romalian's drop point and destination of Hawick. And her destination.

Each of them had their job, whether it be speaking with their informants or gathering information from local towns. But the military almost always knows more than the civilians. In this case with the apparent defeat of the royal family rumours from the civilian population may be useful. But this was where she came in. Her job was to infiltrate military installations and gather whatever intel she could with her ultimate goal being to reach Londinium, the capital situated on a plateau in the mountain range.

Setting the map on the ground she turned her attention back to the metal case she flicked open both locks and opened it revealing a long black Rifle that was nothing like the firearms of Halkeginia. It was a rifle that she had been maintaining for well over thirty years. Reaching down she ran a gloved hand over the familiar adjustable stock she had added to it. The M14 Enhanced battle rifle. The premiere marksman rifle that allowed whoever was behind the barrel of the gun to dictate how a firefight would be fought.

It was something that she had added too over the years with whatever attachments she could get her hands on. A bipod to help stabilize her shots even atop her manticore, an advanced target pointer in order to make precision shots at night. A suppressor in order to save herself from going deaf at an early age. A fixed stock, making back to back shots easier and a variable ACOG scope allowing her to make different shots at various distances. Most of these attachments needed batteries to function so used them very rarely, but this was a special occasion. She wasn't stupid though if her Scope died, she would need another one, which is why she brought an extra ACOG that wasn't battery reliant just in case.

She picked it up and shouldered it making sure that nothing was out of place. Satisfied with it she slung the rifle over her shoulder and turned back to the box, finding seven magazines for her rifle each containing twenty rounds giving her a total of a hundred and forty rounds. Due to what the nature of her mission she did not doubt that she was going to end up using everything. She couldn't rely on her magic; she didn't have the support like on the frontlines in case she overdid it. Placing a magazine into the well, she cocked the gun. The familiar sound of the moving parts as it slid a round into the chamber brought back memories long since berried. Grabbing two other magazines she slipped them into pouches on her belt, the rest went into the backpack, she very much doubted she would need sixty rounds in a single fight, and if she did it would be a failure on her part. She turned back to the map as she reached back into the backpack and pulled out a compass and a small circular canteen.

Taking a drink from the canteen, she Closed the case; she placed both the compass and map onto it before once again grabbing her wand she uttered a quick incantation. The wand suddenly lit up blue allowing her to see the map more clearly. After angling the map to correspond with the compass, she began to plan her own route to the first objective. A small outpost situated around two towns and three forts that used to belong to the Albonese military, meaning it had a lot of information going through it there was bound to be something or someone there that could give her the information she needed to set her on the right track.

The outpost was only a few miles to her north. The fields would be no doubt faster, the moonlight would allow her to jog without fear of twisting her ankle and it would only take an hour to make it there, but it left her in the open. The forest on the other hand. She would have to walk and nearly double the time to reach it, but she would stay hidden. A route formed in her head, she would head through the forest. This wasn't time sensitive, at least not yet.

Putting away the map and compass she uttered another incantation. "metalla fodiuntur." the earth in front of her caved it as a hole formed that could fit the metal case. Pushing the metal box into the hole, she uttered a single word "Imple." The hole began to fill with dirt covering the box, hiding it from view. Standing it up, she adjusted her rifle's sling so that it would rest on her left hip. Stretching her arms, she picked up her backpack and set off down the route she planned for herself. It was going to be a long walk to the capital.

xXXXx

 _ **Well were on Albion, the land of windstones dragons and sickness. It's been a long trip getting here and I hope that it wasn't borning on the way here I know that I've been hyping it up throughout the story but we're finally here for a good few chapters. This will probably be my longest arc so far with good reason.**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, it was certainly hard to write as cegep hit me hard. I'll try and keep posting but I may need some time to actually get it down.**_

 _ **In other news, I've been thinking about a major arc in the future of this story. The only issue I have is that this new setting would essentially turn it into a multi cross. Now, this isn't to say that items or characters from other series are going to pop up, essentially I'm taking that series setting and putting an Elven twist on it. I have everything planned out but I'm not sure if I want to put it in.**_

 _ **Anyway that's enough rambling from me I hope to read your reviews and I hope that you all have a wonderful night.**_


	21. Chapter 21: The Floating island part 2

"Three aces and a pair of kings, make a full house," Kirche said with a smug grin as she laid her cards on the overturned box. Annoyed groans came from the town guards she was playing Germanian poker with signalling the end of the game as her opponents were broke which added up to her doubling her money, she made off of the sailors on the trip here, expanding her wealth further. It had been hard finding her marks as this city was considered Romalian territory thus their laws applied to the city. No gambling, drinking or prostitution was allowed although not everyone adhered to this, most notably the lower income areas where most of the non-Romalian mercs gathered.

If she was being honest to herself, this wasn't her first priority when she arrived. She had wanted to explore the town with Tabitha, see what the quarantine was actually doing to people. If it were calm enough, she would perhaps purchase a house and join the guard. Sure, she would have to do morally grey things, but when hadn't she had to question her morals in order to survive, she had done it in Germania, and she would have to continue to do it here. All in order to stay away from **THEM**.

But without Tabitha to keep her mind focus, she began to wander around looking for something to do which led her to this small rundown inn where she found three guards who had just gotten off their shift. A few drinks and some sweet talk later she found herself outback in the alleyway playing cards with them.

"You're one lucky lady." the man to her left commented, his voice muffled by the percaline mask.

Glancing at the man she let out a playful chuckle. "I was a merc on the eastern frontier of Germania for a good year, you have to be lucky." to which the man laughed.

"Founder, east Germania. damn if that place ain't a cursed frozen hellhole in the winter and a shit swamp in the summer." The one to her right replied in German causing a genuine smile to form on her face.

"You speak German?" She asked in the same language.

"We all do. It's the reason why we're in the same squad."

The smile only grew wider, for all the baggage that her home country carried the people she met out in the countryside were some of the most genuine and helpful people out there. If she had to guess why, she would put her money on the fact that everything was so deadly. You had to band together in order to survive. That also made them easy marks. "It's nice to be able to find people from the Fatherland this far away from home."

"A year ago, it would have been rare, now practically one and five people here are Germanian." The man to her left said as he leant back up against the wall of a building. "Although if I can ask what is east Germania like, I've only heard stories."

She knew that it was a bad idea to get close to her marks, but against her better judgement she leaned forward, using her knees to support her arms and began to tell stories. "I've only been to the northern regions a single time but what do you want to know?"

"Well, I always wondered why anyone would live out there?"

"That would be due to the elves; you see the Emperor of Germania pays people to live there in order to create a buffer between the mainland and the elves."

xXXXx

They had spent a good half hour sharing stories from their adventures. She had learned that the man to her left was named Heinz, he had been a shoemaker from a small mining town in the northern frontier. With the industrializing of the major cities, the miners were working twenty-four-seven to supply the metal that was needed they also needed more workers in order to be able to maintain the shifts. However, when the mine dried up and everyone moved away, he was out of the job which lead him to join up with the quarantine since while being a bastard could throw around fire easily enough.

The man to her right was named Veit; he was an older man although his face was hidden behind porcelain like the rest of the guards here, he spoke about being in conflicts that were fought well before she was born. If she had to guess he was an old man who had retired but due to some reason or another decided to reenlist.

Although there was one person, who was completely silent during this exchange. The man who sat across from her was an enigma. Hidden behind his porcelain bird mask, he had started out joyous and chatty sharing jokes and drink with them all but had gone silent once she had started her winning streak that ended the game.

It puzzled her, but in the end, it didn't matter. Kirche stretched, letting out a fake yawn to complete the image of a tired woman weary from her travels. "Well, it's been fun fellas, but I really should find a place to rest my head."

"No problem," Heinz responded with a smile as he leaned forward. "If you're around tomorrow I'd like a chance to win my money back."

She let out a short chuckle she reached forward a plucked a gold coin from the pile to examine it. "That's if there is any left by tomorrow morning." She replied with a wink.

"Well, we're not going to complain about how you spend your winnings," Veit said as he stood up and stretched.

Grabbing a large burlap sack from her side, she placed it at the end of the box. Using her arm, she attempted to pull her winnings into the bag when a sudden knife impaled itself into the box. Looking up, she found the silent man had done it. "One more round." He demanded out of the blue.

Her heartbeat kicked up a notch, had she been made, this wouldn't be the first time but for it to happen with everyone else's guard was down. Her mind ran over the few rounds they played together thinking of anything that she could have done to have given off the impression that she was cheating.

Heinz grabbed his wrist is a sudden rage. "What are you doing Urs!?"

"What the hell is wrong with you boy!?"

The silent man continued to stare at her saying, nothing for the longest time before finally answering. "I want to play another hand."

She looked around at the other men that surrounded her, all of which were confused by the man's declaration. Letting out a nervous chuckle breaking the silence. "I'm sorry, but you seem to be out of money."

The man shook his head as he reached back into a back pocket. The tension in the air built as he fished around for something. A moment later he produced a piece of paper. "Here is a deed to a plot of land in west Germania." Even behind his mask, she could see the fire in his soul. "Deal me another hand."

He knew he had to have figured it out. Sweat formed on her brow as she glanced at the massive pile of gold that was hers. Swallowing her fear, she nodded. "Sure... No problem." Pulling her hand away from the gold pile, she shuffled the cards once more before dealing the man two cards before giving herself two.

"Come on Urs; you lost don't be sore about it."

The man shot to his friend. "I didn't lose." He growled.

She would have to lose this hand and give up all of her gold. It wasn't the first time she would have to start back at square one, but every time she did, it hurt more and more. No, if she didn't want to be run out of yet another town, she would have to throw this hand. Placing the five cards on the table face down she dealt both herself and Urs a hand.

Looking at her cards, she found an ace of spades and a queen of the same suit which caused a chill to run down her spine. That by itself wasn't the problem, what was the problem that the other cards that three of the cards that were overturn was a king of spades a jack of spades and a ten of spades. She inwardly cursed at herself, leave it to now for her luck to pull through. A royal flush, there was no way that she was losing this hand, and if she displayed a hand like that, she would no doubt be branded a cheater and be thrown out of town.

No this was a problem that she could solve, it wasn't hard all she had to do was change her cards and be done with it. Glancing up at the man, she could tell he was tense. His shoulders were taut, and he was hunched over his cards like a mother bird guarding her eggs. She clenched her hands tight as she pooled willpower into her fingers. Under normal circumstances, she could do it without much thought, but the stress of the situation she was in was just too much to keep herself from exaggerating her actions.

As the cards began to change in her hands, she let out a sigh of relief; she was going to make it. As if sensing her relief, the silent man sprung forward grabbing the ace of spades as it was transforming into a three of hearts. Her eyes shot wide before she could do anything the man pulled his hand back and slammed the transforming card onto the table. "I knew that bitch was cheating," Urs told the rest of the group who all stared at the card in sheer bewilderment that they had been had.

"How?" Heinz muttered as he turned towards her.

"I recognized her. She's the same cunt that stole my entire life savings two years ago in this same game!"

What!

Kirche shot her hand to her axe but was quickly stopped by both Veit and Heinz who both grabbed her arms. "Here we were sharing stories with one another like we were friends when you were nothing but a low born whore." They said as they stood her up.

Urs rose up from his seat and sauntered around the table. "It seems to me that we found a person who's infected."

The two men looked to the leader of the group, for a brief second before nodding. "That we did." The two other men commented.

She struggled against the two other men but found that they were too strong for her. Urs slowly pulled out a burlap sack, that she had seen them use on the other sick people. As the bag grew closer and closer, she struggled as hard as she could.

As if the gods were watching over her the land beneath them began to shake violently. The loud rumbling drowned out the muttering of her captors. Gold coins fell off of the box; cards began to scatter. In the distance, she could hear the screams of the people. Using this as an opportunity to escape, she pooled her willpower into her mouth and unleashed a torrent of fire.

Urs fell backwards as the flames engulfed him. "Elf!" The man to her left shouted in fear. Turning towards him, she kept up the flames, causing him to let go of her in fear of being lit ablaze. With her arm now free she closed her mouth stopping the torrent of fire as she turned to the last guy. Clenching her hand, she punched Veit in the mask right around where his left cheek would be. The man could do nothing as the single punch knocked him out. Turning back to Heinz, she found him attempting to pull out a wand, acting on instinct alone she swiftly kicked in the chest, knocking him down to the ground.

Not wasting a single moment, she spun around, put on her helmet and levitated herself off the ground as fast as she could before barreling down the alleyway. Grabbing her hatchet off of her hip, she pointed it at the ground behind her. "Flamma mur-!" She was suddenly cut off by a cough. The willpower still left her arm, and a moment later, a massive wall of fire sprang up where she was aiming, blocking her attackers from getting to her. As she flew through the alleyway shingles from the roof above her fell down upon her. She easily dodged them but it still costed her precious willpower.

The earthquake passed as fast as it came, which she was both thankful for. Setting herself down just outside the alleyway, she got to see the full extent of the destruction that the earthquake brought. Across from her was where a small house used to be was now nothing but rubble. She was completely taken by surprise, how had she not heard the building crash? The townsfolk that were still up at this hour quickly began to deal with the rubble. She shook her head she needed to get out of here right now, and thankfully the collapsed building made a wonderful distraction. Looking to her left, she found a checkpoint far down the street manned by guards who seemed uninterested in what the townsfolk were doing. To her right, she found yet another checkpoint effectively trapping herself in this area of the town.

Shifting her gaze upwards, she found an open window of the inn which those guards were staying at. She weighed her options, she could try and pass through those checkpoints, or she could head into the inn where she could lay low till morning and then head back to the ship and get Flame. "Dispel this fucking fire you elf bitch!" The mob behind her shouted obviously fine from the attack. Biting her lip, she looked back to the window and found something that she hadn't noticed before. The familiar silvery black helmet of her dear friend Louise. Her luck had held up.

Levitating herself once more, she flew up to the window. "Outta the way Louise!" Was the only warning she gave as she crashed through the window impacting the armoured girl. A small yelp from the young girl was all that she heard as the pair fell back onto the floor.

"Where the fuck did that elf go!?" The voice of Urs shouted causing Kirche to audibly gulp. How had he survived? She wondered. As she thought it over, she realized that it must have been the garb he was wearing, being that he was part of the quarantine team he would be around a lot of fire, and having a flameproof tunic would make that a lot easier to deal with. "You go check the western checkpoint, ill check the eastern."

"Right!"

As she heard the men run off, she let out a sigh of relief. "Louise you don't know just how happy I am to see you." She soon caught a whiff of something that smelled nice. Looking around, she found a single bed in the room which was a queen-sized made of two smaller sized beds that was situated halfway down the wall in the middle of the room with end tables on either side of it. By the door that was across from her was a plain bookcase which housed a wide verity of books lining its shelves.

Her nose drew her gaze over to the other side of the room where a small round wooden tube laid. Water soaked the wood all around it, no doubt due to the earthquake that had just hit. Beside it was a table that held a candle and wand. Both Louise's sword and bow laid near it but Kirche did not doubt that they were resting against the table before the earthquake. But as she peered around the room, she realized that Louise was nowhere to be seen. "Louise, where are you?" She spoke in a hoarse tone

"Mmmph." Before she could register what, that sound was, she was thrown forward. Her eyes shot wide as she flipped through the air, allowing her to see a seething Louise on the floor, her armour glowed a demonic red, and she had a single leg in the air which is what she had probably used to send her flying. She landed a moment later with a loud clank of her armour and her helmet being thrown off. "Kirche what do you think you're doing!?"

The redhead brought a single finger to her mouth in an attempt to silence the girl, but her anger only seemed to grow from the action. She picked herself up and stomped over to where she lay "Please Louise, I just need a place to hide out for the night."

The pink-haired girl only narrowed her eyes. "What. Did. You. Do. Kirche." Louise slowly asked causing her to flinch with each word

Flipping herself onto her stomach, she began to bow at her rivals' feet hoping that it would show her just how desperate she was. "I may have played poker against some guards, and they may have caught me cheating, and now they may or may not want to toss me out of the city, and now I'm begging you to hide me."

Louise stared on in silence for several moments before speaking once more. "Why couldn't you get Tabitha to help you?"

"She left on a mission, so now I'm all alone."

Louise let out a small sigh as her suit turned red once more. She reached down and picked her up by the pits of her arm and lifted her up to her feet. "And here I was about to take a bath."

"You don't have to change your plans because of me," Kirche told her as she patted herself off.

Even with the only source of light in the room being the few candles strewn about the place, Kirche could see grow red at the implications "I'm not getting naked in front of you."

"Why?" Kirche asked genuinely confused. "Just think of this as the girl's bath at school."

"That was different, if sister Elenore were to catch me bathing in front of a Zerbst there would be hell to pay."

"I'll just lock the door if you're so worried about your sister barging in on us.

"Don't put it that way." Louise deadpanned, before going silent. She sat there for a moment, as she thought it over. "Fine but you have to look away."

"Whatever." Walking over to the door, she locked it before turning back to Louise, finding that she had already taken off her helmet which now rested on a table beside the tub. Kirche couldn't help but stare as she fiddled with the silver spine on her back. She watched her as she seemed to struggle against it.

Remembering what she was asked to do, Kirche spun around and faced the wall which was adorned with a painting of a sunrise coming over the mountain range. She heard Louise let out a grunt from behind her as she seemingly continued to struggle against the spine. "Why... Won't... It... come... Off!?" She spoke between grunts.

Kirche, curious as to what was happening, peered over her shoulder, finding Louise standing there, her suit the same demonic red from before. Both hands were on the silver spine as she stumbled around the room, pulling and pulling, struggling and struggling, until she suddenly tripped over the tub falling into it, spilling water all over the floor.

Louise, barring her teeth once more, shot to her feet and grabbed her wand. Seeing this, she braced herself for the explosive outburst that was no doubt about to destroy this room. But it never came. Peering back over her shoulder, once more she found Louise standing in the middle of the room. The expression covering her face could only be described as horrified her gaze was fixated on a blank wall, her arms were up in a defensive position.

xXXXx

 _ **IN ORDER TO INSURE NANOSUIT 2 OPERATOR SURVIVAL, SUIT LOCKDOWN HAS GONE INTO EFFECT.**_

Louise was petrified with fear as she stared at the red text in front of her. It was such a simple sentence with a precise meaning, but she couldn't help but find trying to wrap her mind around. Perhaps this was due to the fact that even with her helmet off she could see the text floating in front of her. She couldn't even touch it so how was it here in front of her.

Her heartbeat quickened as the realization finally sank in. She was stuck in it, her suit. She was trapped inside of it. But why, what did it mean by Operator survival. It was evident that operator meant her but why would she die.

Her vision began to darken until she was staring into a black void. She panicked, finding the void was surrounding her on all sides looking to her hand she only saw that the void seemed to have consumed her body leaving her as nothing more than an observer to this world.  
But before she could question what was happening, a new image appeared on the left side of her vision that followed her gaze forcing her to stare at it. It was a diagram of a black and white female body, the skin was a bluish tone and was translucent allowing her to see not only the bones but her organs and other tube-like things that ran around the body, were these the blood vessels?

Above it was the words, Operator Zero which clued her in on the fact that this was her. Below the image of her body was the words The 23rd day of the Founder's Six Month. Next to it was a calendar of sorts that catalogue the days in the month. Several of the dates most notably the 1st of the seventh month were marked with a red x. The day she summoned the suit. The fear that gripped at her soul had begun to fade, replaced with an odd sense of curiosity.

The date below the suit began to progress forward, until reaching the first of the marked dates. Two small red lines appeared on either side of her diagram's belly button. They slowly grew largerbigger as the organs laying behind the translucent skin turned red for whatever reason.

 _ **RECONSTRUCTING MEMORY.**_

A new moving image formed on the right side of the diagram, it was a bleak, damp looking cave illuminated bright blue, in the center of which was her wielding Derf with demons all around her. Her heart sank as she recognized the cave, it was the water spirits domain. She watched as she battled the demons, taking them out one at a time until she stabbed by one of them who had gotten past her defences.

 _ **WARNING: SUIT PUNCTUR DETECTED.**_

 _ **INJURY DETECTED: TWO LARGE LACERATIONS SURROUNDING, THE NAVEL REGION**_

 _ **LARGE INTESTINE BISECTED ALONG THE TRANSVERSE COLON, NON-FUNCTIONAL**_

 _ **ADMINISTERING ANESTHETIC**_

 _ **ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE DEAD TISSUE**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **ERROR: LACKING BIOMASS**_

 _ **BEGINNING BREAKDOWN OF CLASS D ORGANS.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **BREAKDOWN COMPLETE, REPAIRING ORGANS.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **REPAIR COMPLETE: RETURNING TO COMBAT SUPPORT MODE.**_

She looked at the text in a panic what did it mean breakdown of class D organs, what did that mean? What was class D organs?

 _ **CLASS D ORGANS INCLUDE ALL OF THOSE WHICH ARE USELESS TO YOU IT INCLUDES HAIR, NAILS VESTIGIAL BODY PARTS AND SKIN.**_

Then, what did it take? Her breath hitched in her throat, what did it take in order to heal her.

Before she could complete that thought, the dates below her image began to move forward once more, stopping at the 3rd day of the month. The image of her body turned to its side allowing her to see the red streak of lightning fly from off-screen which impacted her in the chest. The tubes that were around the area where she was hit turned red. The redness splintered out going to every corner of her body fading as the distance between where she had been hit increased. But most notable was the fact that her heart one of the few organs she knew thanks to sneaking into her sister's room, turned orange

 _ **RECONSTRUCTING MEMORY**_

The image left of her diagram came back, only this time she was in the Princess's bedchamber standing between both her body which stood to her left and that man who was on her right. She watched the scene unfold once again, "I appreciate the enthusiasm but I must get going, my employers are waiting for me." His voice echoed in her ears as he brought up his wand.

She wanted to yell at herself to get out of the way, but she knew this was no use. Lightning cracked around the man's sword wand before being blasted towards her alternate self. The lightning-like before, impacted her body, causing her other body to collapse to the floor.

 _ **WARNING, NERVE DAMAGE DETECTED, SWITCHING SUIT TO NEUROLOGICAL MODE. STANDBY.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **SWITCH COMPLETE, EXPEDITING, REPLACEMENT OF NERVASsSTEM.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **INJURY DETECTED: SINUS-ATRIAL NODE** **. ASSESSING DAMAGE.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **DAMAGE NEGLAGABLE RETURNING TO COMBAT SUPPORT MODE.**_

Replacement of the nervous system? What does that mean?

 _ **BASE HUMAN NEUROLOGICAL SYSTEM IS BOTH UNRELIABLE AND INFERIOR COMPARED TO OTHER AVAILABLE MATERIALS, DUE TO VARIOUS FACTORS REPLACEMENT OF ORIGINAL NEUROLOGICAL SYSTEM WITH SUPERIOR VERSION HAS BEEN MADE A PRIORITY**_

She felt a cold dread seeping into every part of her when she saw what it meant: the diagram showed every part of her body had been filled with new lines, like the roots of a tree the lines had grown from the base of her brain and spread to every part of her body.

Before her mind could completely comprehend what, the suit had just told her, the date moved over to the 4th. The diagram shifted and zoomed in until she could see nothing but her diagrams left side shoulder. A large cylindrical object came from outside the screen; it impacted her diagram causing the bones in her shoulder and arm to break as they turned red.

 _ **RECONSTRUCTING MEMORY**_

Finding herself in that orc cave once more, she watched from a new point of view as the large warboss swatted away from the knight. The only response she gave to witnessing the memory was a shudder at the sound of cracking bones.

 _ **WARNING, CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED, ASSESSING.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **LEFT SUBCLAVIAN ARTERY SEVERED, CONTINUING ASSESSMENT**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **SEVERAL FRACTURES DETECTED, ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **ERROR, DAMAGE TOO EXTENSIVE TO REPAIR.**_

 _ **ASSESSING OPTIONS.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **POTENTIAL OF FUTURE COMBAT WHERE OPERATOR IS CRITICALLY INJURED, HIGH.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **BEGINNING BREAK DOWN OF LEFT ARM FOR FUTURE USE.**_

"No." She muttered to herself. Was her arm gone? Her breathing kicked up in pace as sweat began to form on her face. What did that mean, reaching over with her right hand she started to stroke her missing arm, giving it a quick squeeze to confirm that it was there which it was, there was no doubt about it, it was still as hard as it was several weeks ago, but the suit said it was gone?

The image of her body zoomed out while it turned to allow her to see the boulder as it crashed down on top of her, causing several bones in her neck to turn red. Afterwards, she noticed several red dots fly towards her chest. It impacted and pierced the diagram, causing the organs hiding behind the skin to turn red. One of the red dots impacted her chest bone, breaking through and splintering sending both pieces of lead and bone fragments into her heart.  
The diagram then shifted to it laying down on a floor as more boulders crushed it, causing parts of her spine to light up red.

 _ **RECONSTRUCTING MEMORY.**_

The memory played out as well as she could expect it to. She watched the boulder crush the man she had been carrying and causing her to stumble forward followed by the loud bang of the orcs musket which tore through her. The familiar rage that she felt that day could do nothing to lighten the sombre tone. Her screams of rage filled her ears as she tore through her body. Above her body she noticed large boulders come loose from the top of the cave. "Stop, look out! Get out of the way!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. But like always it was no use. The boulders collided with her back knocking her doppelganger to the floor.

 _ **WARNING: EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO CRITICAL CLASS B AND A ORGANS, ASSESSING EXTENT OF DAMAGE.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **LEAD SHRAPNEL DETECTED IN LEFT LUNG.**_

 _ **STERNUM FRACTURE DETECTED.**_

 _ **BONE AND LEAD SHRAPNEL DETECTED IN LEFT ATRIUM, RIGHT ATRIUM AND LEFT VENTRICLE.**_

 _ **ATTEMPTING REPAIR.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **REPAIR COMPLETE.**_

 _ **ASSESSING DAMAGE TO CLASS A ORGANS.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **SPINAL CORD SEVERED AT CERVICAL VERTEBRAE 3, 5 AND LUMBAR 2 AND 4.**_

 _ **REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT OF SPINAL TISSUE.**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **..**_

 _ **REPAIR COMPLETE.**_

 _ **LEGS NOW CLASSIFIED AS EMERGENCY BIOMASS SOURCE.**_

"NO!" She shouted into the void. No this had to be wrong, she wasn't going to let it take her legs. No! This was all a ruse; it had to be, why else would it trap her, it was just trying to scare her into making her think that this was her only solution. It wasn't going to take her legs; it didn't even take her arm, all of those injuries were wrong. They had to be, because if they weren't what did that make her.

A corpse walking on its own? Her fear was replaced with anger. No, she wasn't some product of necromancy, she was going to find a way to take it off, and there was nothing it could do to stop her. "Stop this, I know what you're trying to do, and it's not working!" She shouted into the void through gritted teeth.

Everything in her vision seemed to stop and slowly faded leaving her alone in the void. As the seconds turned to minutes, her stoicism faltered all. Falling back, she landed on her bottom, finding that her body had returned. Taking a moment, she looked over at her left arm finding that it was still there, but just the mere sight of the limb that her suit had supposedly taken from her sent chilling thoughts to her head that made her doubt her belief that this was a lie. What if it wasn't, what if the suit was, in fact, keeping her alive.

Before she was about to shout for help, she noticed a blue hexagon in the corner of her vision.

 _ **HEAD TO THE DESIGNATED WAYPOINT. UNCOVER THE TRUTH.**_

Following it, she found a metal table standing near her in the void, illuminated by some unseen source of light. Atop of it was looked to be a body covered by a rugged looking blue cloth.

Audibly gulping, she slowly made her way over to the table. With each echoing step, her worry grew more and more, until she was upon the table.

 _ **REMOVE THE SHEET.**_

Seeing no alternative, she slowly outstretched an arm and grabbed hold of the sheet. Taking a deep breath in order to steady herself, she threw the blanket off of the body, revealing a sight that caused her to stumble back in shock.

It was a doppelganger underneath it, the only thing she wore was a simple braw and underwear revealing all of the wounds she had sustained over the past three weeks. Her left arm was gone, severed at the shoulder. Her chest was littered with cuts and scars, not to mention the burnt skin that looked somewhat like a tree. The smell of the charred flesh caused bile to rise up into her throat but combined with the sight of seeing herself like that was just too much for her. She collapsed to her knees as she vomited up what little food she had in her stomach. This was all too life like for her; she knew this was all lies to try and keep her in the suit but, just seeing herself like that.

Tears flowed from her eyes, falling into the void below her. Why had she summoned this suit, why couldn't she summon something like a horse, a tortoise? Gods she would even take a dog at this point. She was stuck in this suit; she wouldn't be able to live a life, won't be able to grow old, to have kids, nothing.

She couldn't even marry him not like this. She had just come to terms with it, marrying Viscount Wardes, she was excited for that day, now it was nothing but a dream that will never come to fruition because of her gods damned familiar. "Why, are you doing this?" She wasn't expecting an answer; she just didn't know what to do.

 _ **MY PURPOSE IS TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE MISSION, YOU OPERATING THE SUIT IS NECESSARY TO COMPLETE THIS GOAL.**_

Clenching her hand into a fist, she punched the ground. "Then why do you need me? Why couldn't you do it on your own?" As the final words left her mouth, she realized how dumb of a question that was, it was apparent that the suit no doubt needed a host like a parasite.

 _ **NANOSUIT 2 IS THE CLOSEST THING TO A PERFECT WEAPON, HOWEVER, IT IS INCOMPLETE. OPERATOR IS REQUIRED.**_

Her head slumped back down, allowing her to see the floor now vacant of vomit. The surface was now reflective allowing her to see her reflection, only now with the helmet covering her head and face. She couldn't tell if it was the suits influence or just her mother's rule of steel, but she was mad, furious. This suit had taken everything from her. She unleashed a flurry of punches against her reflection to no effect. A sudden idea popped into her head, if this suit had taken everything from her, she would make damn sure that it couldn't complete its purpose, but she would need to figure that out first. "And what even is your mission," she asked continuing to gaze into her reflection.

 _ **THE COMPLETE ERADICATION OF ANY AND ALL CEPH ASSETS.**_

Ceph? Was that some sort of enemy of the suit? It had to be; perhaps it was a group of humans, or maybe some other race of demi-humans that she had yet to encounter. Grinding her teeth together, a new resolve filled her core. It didn't matter; she would find this ceph and aid them in ending whoever created this suit. Perhaps they would even be able to get this suit off of her? It mattered not that there was a human spirit trapped within this armour, he was probably here against his will. She might even be doing him a favour by taking revenge for him. Using a knee to support herself, she stood up. However, she would have to figure out what a Ceph was in order to help them.

Turning her gaze upwards, she spoke into the void. "I will aid you in your mission to destroy this Ceph. But first I need to understand what the Ceph are." Like every time before there was a pause between the question asked and the answer given.

 _ **ACKNOWLEDGED**_

The table in front of her faded, as the void began to brighten up, returning to the grey hexagonally horizon that she was more familiar with complete with the tall black hexagonal towers in the distance. In front of her two rows of hexagons raised slightly becoming platforms for dark silhouettes who seemed weren't human in any sense of the word, but their outline seemed familiar like she had seen them before.

 _ **THE CEPH ARE A RACE OF HIGHLY ADVANCED EXTRATERRESTRIALS THAT ARRIVED ON EARTH APPROXIMATELY 65 MILLION YEARS AGO.**_

Sixty-five million? What was this suit trying to pull, and what in god's name is an extraterrestrial?

 _ **BEINGS NOT OF THIS PLANET.**_

Louise attempted to wrap her mind around what the suit was telling her, but what did that mean. No matter how hard she thought of the word extraterrestrial she couldn't make heads or tails of the word, from the sound of it, it was Romalian in some sense. She let out a huff, she never liked Romalian it was so boring, and whenever her father had tried to teach it to her, she would always tune out. Before she could dwell on the word that had perplexed her, a faint the voice of her suit chimed in her ears.

 _ **PROCEED TO THE DESIGNATED WAYPOINT.**_

A blue hexagon appeared over the platform closest to her, which grabbed her attention. Cautiously she walked on over to the blackened silhouette that stood on the platform. Each step closer to the figure caused a new sense of familiarity to perk up within her

Upon stepping in front of the platform, it lit up, causing her to fall backwards as a terrified scream escaped her lips. In front of her was a demon, the one that had stabbed her in the gut.

 _ **THE CEPH STALKER IS THE SHOCK AND AWE TROOP OF THE CEPH'S COMBATIVE FORCE.**_

 _ **WITH IT'S AMPLE SPEED AND AGILITY IT CAN MANEUVER OVER EVEN THE HARDEST TYPE OF TERRAIN.**_

 _ **THEIR WEAPONS CONSIST OF TWO TITANIUM BLADES LOCATED ON ITS WRIST AS WELL AS THE SMALL PLASMA BASED WEAPON PLACED IN THE CENTER OF THE TWO BLADES.**_

 _ **THEY CAN BE DIFFERENTIATED FROM THE GRUNTS BY IT'S HUNCHED OVER APPEARANCE AND MORE ANIMALISTIC TACTICS.**_

The ceph, they were, the demons? No, this suit called them Aliens. But what were they doing here? Louise let out a growl, clenched her head, she couldn't comprehend what was in front of her. The demons the suit. What did it all mean, were their more demons? Her eyes shot open; there were more. This suits entire purpose was to destroy them meaning that there had to be more. Right?

 _ **PROCEED TO THE DESIGNATED WAYPOINT.**_

With the command of her suit, she did as she was told, walking to the other row where the blue hexagon laid. "What are the chances that there are more aliens then the ones we found in the water spirit domain."

 _ **100%**_

Her breath hitched in her throat, so there were more demons out there. She thought back to the destruction of the town and that horrific blob of human body parts. It was obvious that they were far more powerful than even most mages. Especially that large alien, that wielded that huge canon upon its arm like it was nothing but a sword.

 _ **THE CEPH GRUNT IS THE WORKHORSE OF THE CEPH'S MILITARY.**_

The voice of her suit broke her from her thought allowing her to realize that she stood in front of yet another alien, this one wielded the strange gun that she had previously used to defeat the aliens.

 _ **THE CEPH GRUNT MAKES UP THE LARGEST PORTION OF THE CEPH MILITARY.**_

 _ **WITH IT WEILDING ARMED WITH A PINCH RIFLE, A PLASMA BASED WEAPON, NO ARMOUR SAVE FOR THE NANOWEIVE OF THE SUIT CAN WITHSTAND ITS ATTACK.**_

 _ **IT IS ESPECIALLY DEADLY TO ORGANIC MATERIAL AS THE PLASMA IT FIRES BURNS AT 20 000 CELSIUS OR 36032 FAHRENHEIT**_ _._

Her eyes widened at the suit declaration not even the most powerful fire mages could reach those temperatures, was such a heat even possible? Wait, what about Tabitha? if they had hit her anywhere else what would have happened. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath calming herself. She couldn't think about what ifs, she needed to look forward.

With her fear slowly subsiding, she found herself growing disinterested with the monster in front of her. She needed more information if these things weren't demons then what were they doing with the water spirit? What was their motivation? "And what if their goal, she asked into the void as she reached out and ran her hand along the alien gun.

 _ **THE COMPLETE AND UTTER ERADICATION OF HUMANITY.**_

Her heart skipped a beat which threatened to ruin the cool composure she had built up in front of these inhuman monsters. "So, they can't be reasoned with?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized just how dumb of a question that was, of course, they couldn't be reasoned with if their goal is the destruction of all of humanity then the pleas of a single girl wouldn't sway them.

 _ **CAN YOU REASON WITH AN ANTHILL?**_

A scowl grew upon her face. Her suit was mocking her now. But she noticed something curious about what the suit had just told her. It compared the aliens to an ant hill. Which was just an odd comparison? "What do you mean?"

 _ **CEPH ACT AS A HIVE MIND.**_

Hivemind?

 _ **ANTS SHARE KNOWLEDGE WITH ONE ANOTHER, THEY MAY CONTAIN SEVERAL BODIES, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE MIND**_ **.**

"So, they don't have any sense of individuality?"

 _ **NEGATIVE**_

With nothing left to ask she turned towards the next silhouette, its massive frame gave her some idea that it was that cannon wielding alien. As she began to walk over to it, it lit up allowing her to see the menacing figure that had nearly killed her before. The red blob that made up its body, the dark red glow of its eyes and its immense height only added to the terror of facing such a beast, and that was before its weapons were taken into account.

 _ **THE CEPH DEVASTATOR UNIT IS THE CEPH'S BREAKTHROUGH UNIT.**_

 _ **CURRENTLY, THE HEAVIEST AND MOST DURABLE CEPH INFANTRY UNIT EVER ENCOUNTERED IT IS DELIVERED TO THE BATTLEFIELD VIA DROPPOD AND ARE USED TO DEFEND AND ATTACK KEY AREA'S USING THEIR LARGE X-PAC MORTER AND REAPER CANNON MINIGUN. THE CEPH DEVASTATOR WILL BE ONE OF YOUR TOUGHEST OPPONENTS YOU'LL FACE ON THE BATTLEFIELD.**_

It was odd how her suit seemed to almost admire the beast with its detailed description of it. Gazing up at the hulking monstrosity in front of her, Louise felt fear beginning to creep up within her. "And I'm supposed to be the one to stop them."

 _ **MY MISSION IS TO ERADICATE THE CEPH THREAT, AS YOU ARE THE ONE TO USE ME, THIS MISSION NATURALLY FALLS TO YOU.**_

So that was her purpose now, be some pawn to her familiar? But then, what were her options. These monsters were going to destroy humanity if she didn't do anything, but why her? Why did she have to give up her life for this thing? Why did she have to be the sacrificial lamb? She let out a sigh, she had been over this before, and at this point, it was growing tiresome. No, now that this was her purpose, she needed numbers. "And how strong is their army?" They couldn't have that many. Right?

 _ **AT THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK CEPH FORCES NUMBERED BETWEEN 1.2-2.6 MILLION TROOPS**_.

What?

 _ **THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK CONSISTED BETWEEN 1.-**_

"I know that!" She shouted into the void. How could there be that many, and just what was this New York?

 _ **NEW YORK IS ONE OF THE LARGEST URBAN CENTERS ON THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.**_

Her eye twitched as the realization hit her. This wasn't total troop number or a significant battle that ran across an entire border of a country; this was troop density in a single city. She fell to her knees in shock, how, how was she supposed to fight this. Falling forward, she caught herself with her arms forcing her to stare at the dark hexagonal floor. Unable to contain it she began to laugh. Her suit was insane. Absolutely Insane. Asking her to fight an army in the tens of millions at least. Did it have no sense of self-preservation?

Her laughing grew louder. It had to be lying; there was no way for a country to field an army that large, the number of logistics needed to keep that army fighting, food water, medicine. The suit had to be lying; it had to be there was no other explanation. But why. Why would it lie to her? No matter if it lied to her about this then there may be a chance for her to get out of the suit. But should she, what if that alien threat was still around, she could be the only one to be able to fight them, back in Tristian she was the only one that could go toe to toe against them.

 _ **THREAT DETECTED, ENDING SIMULATION.**_

"Wait!" She shouted as the void around her slowly faded. But it was no use, the wooden ceiling of the inn that she was staying at came back to her although the image was distorted it was as if. Her eyes suddenly shot wide as she realized she couldn't breathe. Air bubbles escaped her lungs as she began to panic. Placing both hands on the bottom of the tub she pulled herself out of the water and quickly flung herself over the side of it as she attempted to cough up whatever water was still in her lungs.

After several seconds hacking, up water she tossed her self-back into the tub allowing her to relax Looking around in a state of confusion, she found herself in the bathing tub in the center of the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, she let her head fall back into the water. Closing her eyes, she brought up a hand to rub her temples, as she began to process her next move. She had so much to do after heading home. She had to go grab a potion of rebirth for Cattleya all the while looking out for this Ceph threat.

Gritting her teeth, she covered her eyes with her hands. She could feel the tears begin to form as her mind come to a conclusion that she didn't even want to entertain. She would need to tell the viscount. Clenching her hand into a fist, she punches the side of the tub shattering the wood that made up the walls. As the water flowed out onto the ground. She quickly grabbed her fist in her other hand holding it back from causing any more damage while internally scolding herself for the outburst. Her mother wouldn't approve. of.. That... Her thoughts trailed of as she realized the worst person that she would have to tell would be her own mother. It would be like what happened when Cattleya was first found to be sick. If the stories were correct, then Mother had spent a year outside of the estate looking for the cure for her sister's illness.

No, that could wait till later, she already had enough on her plate before trying to figure out how she was going to deal with her parents. Mother was busy with the quarantine as it is, so it would no doubt buy her a lot of time to try and find a way to explain to her why she couldn't take off the suit.

Letting out a sigh she began Looking around, soon found Kirche standing in the window, showing no concern for the fact that she had almost drowned. Pushing herself to her feet, Louise stomped over to her, furious as to why she was left in that tub. But as she drew closer, she noticed the roaring fire that Kirche was staring at. Turning back to her she found Her cheeks were marred by tears that ran down her face, Louise watched her body shake as her grip on the window frame tightened.

Turning back to the fire Louise finally noticed that it encompassed the entirety of the docks. A horrified gasp escaped her lips, that was quickly silenced by her hands as she saw the RTN Henry's mass poking out of the top of the flames.

"What happened?" She muttered to herself.

Kirche, remained silent, instead choosing to watch the flames as tears continued to roll down her face. "It's ok Flame; you don't need to fight anymore." Her voice was broken and fragmented. Confused Louise turned away from the flames to look at her friend once more. Finally noticing that one of her eyes had turned a shade of blue, indicating that she was using familiar vision.

Upon realizing this, her head shot back to the ship. Kirche's familiar was still in there.

Kirche leaned forward as she closed her eyes, tears continuing to fall to the floor. "You can rest now. Baby."

 _ **EXPLOSION IMMINENT, RECOMMEND, TAKING COVER.**_

What? The boat was well over half a mile away they shouldn't be in any danger. Granted she was in no position of authority on the subject, but it was so far away.

Kirche pushed herself off of the windowsill and turned to rest her back on the wall next to it. Sobbing as she slid down to a sitting position. Turning away from her, Louise looked back at the burning dock. Her vision zoomed allowing her to see the various mounts attempting to flee from the flames. In a single moment, the dock exploded throwing a giant ball of fire into the sky which illuminated the night. The shockwave that followed took a single second to reach her, allowing her to witness the wave of destruction before it hit the inn.

Before she could do anything, she was thrown back, her vision blurring at the impact of her head upon the wooden floor. She let out a groan as the pain shot through her head. Opening her eyes, she found the ceiling above her spinning around. As the sound of destruction faded, the sound of ringing in her ears replaced it. Slowly she brought a hand to the back of her head and began stroking it in an attempt to dull the pain. Lifting her head, she saw that the windowsill had caved inward littering the room with glass and wood. "Kirche." She muttered.

As she began to look for the redhead, she felt liquid of some kind run down her for head. Raising a hand to her head, she pressed her head into her palm before pulling it back, finding her palm covered in blood, her blood. She let her head fall back onto the floor. Her suit could fix this; she thought through the dizziness. Lifting her head up once more, she looked around for the redhead finding her lying face down on her stomach. Flipping herself over onto her stomach, Louise crawled over to her friend, seeing that she was perfectly fine save for the fact that she was still sobbing. Pushing through the new wave of nausea, she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled over to the window.

Her jaw hung loose as she surveyed the damage. Over half the town that had surrounded the pier was either on fire or had been completely destroyed. Her gaze shifted to the streets below where she found people wandering aimlessly, covered in soot, seemingly in shock to the whole situation. "Partner!" a faint voice shouted, breaking through the ringing in her ears. Turning towards where she assumed the sound come from, she found Derf lying flat on the ground; his hilt popped out of his sheath.

"I'm-" She attempted but was silenced by a cough. "fine."

"You don't sound or look like it." The sword questioned.

Turning away, she found her helmet resting near him. "My suit can fix it." She told him as the ringing began to fade. This, however, was both a blessing and a curse. As with the ringing gone, she was able to hear the horror going on outside her window. Screams of people trapped under rubble, the roar of fire that was tearing through the wooden slums. Pushing past the thoughts, she stumbled over to her helmet, collapsing to her knees when she reached it. Grabbing it with both hands, she put it on.

 _ **BEGINNING REPAIR**_.

With those simple words, she felt the dizziness leave her in a single moment; her mind cleared itself allowing her to focus once more. The door in front of her was suddenly flung opened revealing her sister in her plague suit. Before she could say anything, her sister rushed her, grabbing both her arms in order to restrain her before examining her. "Elenore? What are you doing? I'm fine." She attempted to explain.

But it was no use; her sister didn't even pause to process what she had been told. "Take off your helmet." She commanded as she let go allowing her to move her arms once more. Pouting she raised both her hands to her helmet, and gave it a quick twist as she silently hoped that the suit had finished healing her. Pulling her helmet off, her sister lunged her hand at her chin grabbing it in a tight grip, and swiftly examined every inch of her face. When that was done, Louise's head was yanked downward giving her sister a clear view of her nearly hairless scalp. "What happened?"

"I, don't know, all I saw was the dock on fire. And then a large explosion." She replied continuing to be sister-handled.

"A rupture in the ballast tanks wouldn't cause this much destruction." Her sister mused as she let go. Elenore stepped back as she surveyed the room, her gaze locking on the redhead causing her eyes to widen. She looked back to Louise, before looking back at the redhead. Her mouth opening and closing as she did. Closing her eyes, Elenore took a deep breath.

Louise's eyes widened as she put two and two together. She had been supposed to be taking a bath and here was another woman in her room. "Elenore it's not what it looks lik-" But she was cut off.

"We're going to have to have a talk about the guests you let into our room. But it can wait till after this horrific day is done." Elenore walked over to Kirche, crouched down and rolled her over, beginning her examination. "And a Zerbst at that." Louise heard her mutter. After a minute, she stood up and turned back to her. "Well other than the distress she is currently going through she is fine." Elenore turned to the windowsill and walked over to it, following the same pattern of gaping at the destruction that she had done previously. "Founder."

Louise watched as her sister's head trailed down to the street level below. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sister clench her hand into a fist. "You three!" Elenore suddenly shouted. "You're water mages are you not?" She paused seemingly waiting for an answer. "Then help the populace, you lazy half-wits!" Elenore turned back to her who simply stood on in shock. "I'm heading out; I expect you to remain here while I help the people." Before Louise could get a single word in Elenore jumped out of the window and into the streets below.

Breaking out of the stupor, Louise rushed forward to the window and watched as her sister ran off down the street helping the people along her way. Her head trailed up until she was back to staring at the burning dock which was acting as an artificial sun, continuing to illuminating the darkness.

Letting out a sigh, Louise put on her helmet and turned back to her friend who still lay on her back, an arm draped over her eyes. She wanted to do something, to try and comfort her in some fashion, but what could she do? She was never in a situation like this. Never experienced loss like this.

"Maybe you should leave her alone partner." Her sword commented, catching her attention. "The familiar master bond isn't something that is easily broken and when it is the surviving side ends up feeling as if they had lost a part of their soul."

Biting her lip, she turned back her friend. She would heed her blades advice; there was nothing right now that she could do or say that would get her out of the slump, she was in. "Louise!" a familiar voice shouted. Her eyes widened as she grew tense and blood ran cold. That voice belonged to Longueville. She slowly turned around finding the green haired dressed in a town's guards plague garb, in front of her was Wardes who had a dagger pressed up against his neck.

Her eyes widened. "Loungueville!?" What was she doing here? She should be locked up in th.. She did it, she had to have done it, it made too much sense, the ship blows up, and here she is safe and sound. Her head tilted towards the ground allowing her to see the legs of a person crushed beneath their own house. Louise felt a fire begin to burn within her, a new sense of rage, the woman in front of her, had caused so much death and destruction to this city to her life. "What did you do?" Louise growled clenching her fist.

 _ **IRREGULAR PATTERN FOUND IN THREAT,**_

 _ **ANALYZING, STANDBY.**_

"Nothing but a bit of revenge for what you did to my hand."

 _ **ANALISIS COMPLETE.**_

On the corner of her vision, she was able to make up several words. However, she ignored them

 **Muscle fatigue**

 **Elevated cortisol levels**

 **Sleep deprivation**

There was not a shred of sympathy in her voice; she had no remorse for what she had done, the lives she had taken. She opened her mouth to speak, when a hand grabbed her on her shoulder and pulled her out of the way allowing Kirche to take her place. "You, did this?" She asked venom soaking her voice.

Louise was shocked, to say the least, the fire that had burned within her had just withered away consumed by the raging forest fire in front of her. "Yes, I may have had a hand in this?" Loungueville remarked.

The suited mage found herself nearly gasping as she continued to look on at the redhead whose hair began to ignite only for moments later be put out. She had assumed that she must be seeing things when a fire started near the small string that held her braid together igniting it and subsequently throwing her hair into chaos.

Kirche through an open hand behind her. Louise felt confused by her action when her hatchet flew by her face and into the awaiting hand causing her to let out a small gasp at the display of wandless magic something that only her mother was said to be capable of. "You're the one who killed my familiar." The air around grew chilly as she watched the fire within her friend grow more intense. This wasn't just some forest fire; this was a fire that looked as if it could consume the world. "I had to watch him burn, trapped beneath a wooden support. Because of you."

The killing intent emanating from her friend was almost palpable. It was such a far cry from her easy-going nature that Louise could only continue to stare. "Kirche?" She muttered.

Loungueville smugly smirked at the redhead. "And what do you plan to do about that Zerbs-" a red-hot chain shot right out of the redhead's arm flying right by the green-haired woman's head causing the vail of confidence to instantly vanished replaced by a look of fear to take its place. "Hey! Don't you see I have a hostage!?" She shouted pressing the dagger closer to the Viscounts neck

Looking back to her friend Louise found Kirche's hair was set ablaze, it seemed as if it was a fire that had no intention of dying anytime soon. Looking at her hands, she found another sharp chain being formed on her arm. Her suit quickly calculated the trajectory of the chain, forming a white solid line in her vision. Following it, she found that it went directly through the Viscount. Time slowed as the chain shot out of her arm. Her body sprang into action before her mind could completely comprehend the action, grabbing the chain stopping it from killing the pair.

The redhead shot turned to her a look of betrayal clear on her face. "What are you doing!?" She shouted, her ordinarily brown eyes replaced with red which was a window into the flame within her. A wave of fear to overtake her senses. It was as if she was looking into the eyes of a fire spirit that she had wronged.

No, she wouldn't be afraid, her suit would protect her, and she needed to stand up for herself. "You were going to kill them both!" She yelled as she stepped up to her rival.

"Sometimes sacrifices need to be made Louise!"

"I won't let you kill my fiancé for your revenge!"

"It wasn't go-" Before she could complete her retort the sound of volley fire cut them off.

"Seems like my backup has arrived." Loungueville chuckled her confidence returned. The pair turned back to the window allowing them to see the ranks of soldiers down the street wearing similar garbs with the only difference being the fact that they didn't wear any of the bird beak masks, instead opting for cloths covering their mouth and goggles to protect their eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that these men belonged to Reconquista as they readied their wind rifles. The head of the small squad was mounted on a horse guiding them "Well, leave you two to your squabbles. I need to deliver our latest prisoner to Cromwell and sell that ring."

Ring?

"Wait!" Kirche shouted as the pair hopped off of the roof and onto the street, a golem swiftly formed on the cobblestone road and just as fast took the viscount before the trio began sprinting past all the wounded citizens and dazed guards in the direction of the Reconquista line which parted for them.

As soon as they were through the line fired killing a large number of people on the street. "You let them get away!" Kirche shouted her hair still set ablaze. She did. She let them get away She simply ignored her, however, she needed to catch up to them. Racing over to her weapons, she swiftly put them on, however ignoring the belt. Instead, she placed Derf up to her hip, where after a small click sound it stayed put. Grabbing her bow, she looked around for her quiver, finding it laid out in a mess by the bedside with arrows strewn about the place. "Are you even listening?"

Grabbing as many as she could she placed them into the quiver which she attached to her lower back, leaving a single arrow in her hand. She raced back to the window just in time to witness another volley being fired.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED.**_

With her body now hidden from the world, she leaned out of the window and took aim at the leader who continued to command his troops without a single worry. She breathed in as she pulled back on her bowstring. Her breathing slowed as her vision zoomed in on the man's head. Letting out a breath she fired. The arrow tearing through the air, impaling the man's head.

The unit he commanded didn't seem fearful that their commander had been killed. Instead of acting in a panic, the unit divided up and marched into nearby alleyways. Deactivating her cloak, Louise stepped up onto the windowsill, preparing to give chase.

"Louise, do you even know where you're going?" She said nothing, lowering her head. Just what could she do in this situation? The ring could figure out what direction she needed to go in, but that would only work if they stood still.

 _ **MAGICAL SIGNATURE DETECTED.**_

As if her prayers were answered a blue hexagon popped up in her vision that was getting progressively further and further away.

 _ **LOCATE AND RETRIEVE THE VISCOUNT**_ _._

A smile perked up onto her face. She could find them. Looking up at the sky, she saw several dragon knights flying a weird coat of arms that looked nothing like the Albionese. "My suit is tracking them." Without another word she leapt from the window and landed on the nearly empty street. The few people that were still around were tending to the wounded and dead from the volley fire. In the distance, she could hear continued volley fire as well as a cannon every now and again.

This was way too confusing for her. She was told that Reconquista was disorganized and low on supplies. But the way they took this town. This was anything but. And the fact that they have dragon support only meant that they had a surplus of food, but how? Either way, this limited her avenues of movement in the city, she needed to stay on the streets or those dragons would tear her up.

"Wait!" Kirche shouted from above her. Before she could look up, the redhead landed beside her, her hair no longer on fire and helmet in hand.

Looking towards her Louise raised an eyebrow from beneath the mask. "What are you doing Kirche?"

"I know how much you want your boyfriend" Heat began to rise to her cheeks. "But you're my only ticket to finding that bitch. So I'm coming with you."

Louise turned back to face the blue hexagon. "Fine but you better keep up with me." In a single moment, she sprinted down the street, dodging rubble and wounded while weaving between streets and alleyways. Glancing behind her, she found Kirche keeping up with her by way of levitation. Turning back to the path in front of her, she found herself closing in on the blue hexagon.

But as she continued to chase after the blue hexagon, a new feeling of unease began to overtake her. Where were the attackers? They sort of just left after their commander was killed, but they didn't run off. They calmly marched away as if this was all normal. And the dragons, it was obvious that they saw her, she was running through the streets faster then any person should. But they didn't attack her.

Her mind was brought back to the present as she found herself in front of her was a white curtain, the blue hexagon resting still on the other side of it. Passing through it she found herself on the main street, in front of her was single stone pillar surrounded by the bodies of guards that were too many to count.

 _ **CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED.**_

She tilted her head to the left finding three groups of Reconquista soldiers supported cannons with their backs to the open gate of the city. All their weapons were aimed at them. Time once again slowed down as she looked back at Kirche finding her in a similar state of shock. She was close enough to the rock to make it and use it as cover from the assault, and Kirche could easily put up a wind barrier to protect herself from the attack. But did she have enough time to cast such a spell? No, she couldn't take that chance. Planting a foot in front of her, she stopped her forward momentum in a single second, turned and lunged at her. Kirche let out a soft grunt as she was pulled to the ground.

 _ **MAXIMUM ARMOUR.**_

"Fire!"

The area was blanketed by a thick layer of smoke as the deafening roar of the cannon blocked out any other sound. Quickly climbing up her rival, she wrapped her arms around her head and pulled her into her chest off of her rival while angling her back to the firing line doing her best to shield her friend from the incoming attack with her tiny body.

Grapeshot bounced off her armour taking with it a little bit of suit energy the volley of the less deadly wind rifle fire soon following it. Louise could only close her eyes in an attempt to shut out the world, but nothing could stop her from hearing the shots bounce off the armour and nothing could prevent her from witnessing the energy bar of the suit being depleted.

 **75%**

They kept shooting

 **50%**

The second cannon fired

 **25%**

And yet another volley was fired

 **0%** _ **SUIT RUPTURE DETECTED.**_

Pain grabbed hold of her once again. The shots tore into her back, causing her to let out a pained scream at the top of her lungs. Her world was consumed with this feeling, this pain. She gripped the girl she was protecting harder as the fear of death loomed over her like it had so many other times. Only now she doubted she was going to get out of it. This was what Albion was famous for. Even with their old muskets, their tactics of volley fire allowed them to defeat any country due to just how effective their musketeers. The only country that ever stood a chance against them was Tristian due to the population of mages we housed. But she was no mage; she didn't have the magic to fight this, not while she was shielding her rival.

"Fir-"

" **Ignus!"**

An explosion rocked the street accompanied by a scream of several men and woman as the pain began to subside. Opening her eyes, she found the burning eyes of Kirche looking past her. Following her gaze, she found that the ranks had been broken, with most of the center column of troops lying dead or wounded on the ground. The centermost cannon seemed to have vanished the only evidence of the device was the shrapnel that littered the buildings around it and the wheel of the pieces of the wooden platform it rested on resting beside the duo. The remaining soldiers seeing that they were outmatched, marched off into the town opting to leave their dead and wounded where they were.

"Can you get off me!?"

Looking back at Kirche she found her scowling at her through the small T shaped helmet. "Sorr-"

"Don't apologize. Just bring me to that monster." Louise bit her lip, and slowly stood up, Kirche following her.

Turning back to the stone pillar, she found that the blue hexagon was no longer there. Looking around, she discovered that the blue hexagon had long left the town, already nearly a mile away already. "They already left the town?" She said breathlessly. How fast were they? They must have been using earth magic to get that far. Perhaps even travelling underground.

Out of the corner of her eye, she found Kirche already making her way to the busted open gate, only to pause when she realized that she wasn't being followed. "Well come on Louise, we have to go after them."

"But the to-"

"Louise!" She growled cutting her off, before quickly regaining her composer. "Think of the big picture here. I know how much you wish to impress your family, the trials that one must face when you grow up in a household with such high expectations." She turned and pulled off her helmet allowing her to see the warm smile. "If you were able to apprehend the person who had caused such destruction then your family will certainly see your value." She opened her mouth. "And besides, you have a fiancé to rescue right?"

Louise bit her lip once more. Her stance with her family wasn't in the best position, and any opportunity to improve that would be good to ease the blow of letting them know that she was stuck in her suit. And on top of that if she didn't go after Wardes then who would. What if he caught the plague? Then what.

But what about Elenore, what would she think? She hadn't even left a note for her. She would think I was either dead or kidnapped she very much doubted that she would die in this attack or be captured. "Louise we don't have much time, every second you waste they get further and further away."

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! She didn't have enough time to think, to weigh her options. She looked between the waiting Kirche and the blue hexagon which was getting further and further away. "I'm sorry." She muttered under her breath. Looking at the waiting fire mage, she gave her a small nod before began the journey towards their objective.

Soon leaving the town, she couldn't help but hope that Elenore was safe and that she made the right choice.

xXXXx

 _ **NANOSUIT DATABASE UPDATED**_

 **Cromwell light support cannon.**

 **Weight. 1200 Lbs assembled 150 Lbs pounds disassembled**

 **Class. Support gun**

 **Ammo weight. 6 Lbs**

As the name suggests this cannon is used in the support role. It is able to do this due to how it's constructed which incorporates a special windstone rod in order to make the movement and deployment of this gun as quick and painless as possible.

Moving over long distances the cannon is towed by horse, however once near a battlefield, a specially designed shaft made of windstone is shoved down the barrel of the cannon making extremely light allowing the metal cannon to be moved by hand to where it is needed.

The name Cromwell was created after the first major victory over the crown after General Willam used these cannons to great effect at the battle of Farnfoss where he was able to ambush lure individual units into their line of fire, by using their complicated city layout to their advantage.

 **Lover stones.**

The lover stones defy what modern science has come to expect from natural rock formations. they come in both "Male" (blue) and "Female" (Violet.) and seem to have a connection to one another, this causes the stones to glow bright when in close proximity to only a faint shimmer when separated over a large distance. But the most peculiar thing has to be the "breeding" element to the stone. when the female and male come into contact with each other they begin to grow while glowing bright enough to blind those without eye protection.

Originally discovered in West Gallia five centuries ago by the famed explorer Jacques Cartier, in his last expedition westward and of his last discoveries before disappearing. The original use of such an item was to aid Dragon knights and other mounted riders find their way back to port if a heavy cloud had rolled in.

But as the literacy of the population began to pick in the past century. The idea of the rings changed. Suddenly the military application was looked at as a way to always find your way back to your lover. This was aided by the fact that lover's rings are incredibly cheap due to the self-creating nature allowing commoners to more easily purchase one.

xXXXx

 _ **A/N**_

 ** _So I know I've been gone a while and I want to say sorry for that and I hope that this long chapter makes up for it._**

 **As for the story, everyone is on Albion proper now. Louise Kirche Karin and Tabitha. Expect some more action coming soon probably in the next few chapters and some reveals.**

 **Also, you may have noticed a new cover page for the fic. and that would be my OTP for this fic. Louise x M2 Browning-kun.**

 **Now hear me out, you have to look at the positives of this magnificent piece of equipment.**

 **It provides great fire emotional support something that she really lacks in canon.**

 **He's tall dark and handsome coming in at a nice 5ft 4.**

 **He's big but not too fat at 80lbs without ammo.**

 **And finally he has experience, I mean browning-kun** **has been around since 1933 for ped sakes.**

 **Now I'm going to stop this joke.**

 **Anyways I hope you have an awesome weekend.**


	22. Chapter 22: The floating island part 3

_**So I guess i'm a little late with this update, so i just want to say sorry, hopefully I'm now back in the saddle so the wait between chapters won't be as long.**_

xXXXx

The forest path the pair trekked through was alive with all manner of life, birds singing from above and more than once they saw a deer grazing in the few clearings this dense forest had.

And while Louise would have relished the opportunity to simply enjoy the nature presented in front of her, there was something wrong, something she noticed after the first day of non-stop walking that caused her head to become a blizzard of questions.

There was no one.

In the three or so days since they had begun their journey to save Viscount Wardes they had yet to encounter a single other soul. Not a mage, not a soldier, not even a commoner.

It was unsettling. Even on the most barren roads in Tristian, you would encounter at least a few people.

Was this the work of the Plague? Could it really have worked so fast as to render the entire population of close to two million completely petrified?

Still, perhaps she would receive the answers she was looking for. It was after the second day that Wardes had stopped moving, and now they were only five miles from where he was being held.

And that was another source of worry.

Her eyes.

It was something she noticed after her suit pulled her out of its realm when she gazed at the burning wreckage of the Henry, her vision could zoom, more than that her suits information was remained in view even with the helmet off.

"How far away are we, Louise!?" Kirche groaned, pulling her from her thoughts and to the sight of her armoured ally standing in front of her, arms folded in front of her.

The fear that had been consuming her instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of annoyance that burned within her. She tightened her grip on her hilt took a stepped forward, in an attempt to convey that she wasn't going to be ordered around "Yo-" Her blade suddenly shivered in her hand, cutting her off.

She cocked an eyebrow in confusion as she turned to the blade. "I would advise you against that partner." The sword muttered to her.

Looking back to Kirche who now stood with her arms crossed, she bit her tongue and with a sigh, replied "three or so miles if we keep following this road."

"Good," Kirch said to no one in particular as she once again set off down the road. "Real good."

Louise stopped in place to watch as the redhead continued forward staggering every now and again before turning to face the blade. "Why did you stop me?"

"It wouldn't have helped the situation by starting an argument."

"Yeah well she shouldn't be complaining so much and be grateful I'm here. I could have left her back in the town"

"You know that's not true Louise, without her push, you would have stayed back in that town and I don't doubt that you were at least a little bit worried for her." Her blade accused.

"What? Of course not." She chuckled waving off the accusation as if it was nothing but a rumour.

"Then why did you follow her?" The sword hummed.

"Well because it wou-. You see-. It's not like that-" Each sentence, each idea as to explain her current situation was a simple lie. A sigh escaped her lips, realizing just how fruitless it was. "Of course, I'm worried. We haven't done anything but walk for the past three days, she hasn't eaten she hasn't slept. It's starting to affect her."

"But you haven't either."

"That's different."

"How so?"

"I have my suit, it keeps me moving and I don't feel the effects," Louise explained

"She probably feels the same way. Most people don't realize how they act when their tired not to mention the fact that she lost her Familiar."

"I know Derf." She relented letting the scowl fade to be replaced with a plain frown, letting her gaze fall to the dirt path below her. "I just wished she appreciate what I was doing."

"I'm sure she does, she's just too preoccupied with her emotions to show it. Just stay close by, and make sure that you're there to help her and I'm sure you two will be fine."

"Louise keep up!" Kirche called out to her from down the road at the edge of the forest.

Once again sighing, she began to jog towards her friend.

The forest slowly thinned out as she reached her, allowing her to see the expansive farmland that stretched all the way to a nearby walled-off town with a massive castle at the center of it that seemed to act as a sort of inland port if her, where her suit told her Wardes was being held.

Her gaze zoomed in, allowing her to see the open gate with two tired looking guards manning it, armed with windrifles and clad in dark plate mail which sat atop the usual thick clothing of a plague suit.

"We should pass through the fields of wheat in order to get the jump on them."

Louise could only turn to her side with wide eyes. "You can't be serious?" She couldn't, it was normal for Kirche to overestimate her abilities but this was ridicules.

But as the Germanian turned to face her, she knew that behind those dark circles and unfocused gaze, was a rage burning as hot as the sun.

"Kirche, you're not in any shape to be fighting." Louise pleaded with her

"What!?"

Puffing out her chest she laid it all out. "I've held my tongue since we left but you need to rest, you probably couldn't even fight a commoner."

The redhead took a single step towards her and jammed a finger into her chest. "I do not, _need_ rest."

Louise shoved Kirche's hand aside and matched her step. "You won't be able to fight Loungville like this, you can hardly walk straight."

"Fine, then what do _you_ suggest?" Kirche asked, the sarcasm underlining the sentence as clear as day.

Pursuing her lips, she looked back at the wall as her mind went to work trying to form a plan. "I think we can walk right in. The gate is open and the guards aren't on alert."

A pregnant pause grew between the pair as Kirche seemingly weighed the pro and cons of her plan, hopefully, she would se-

"That's your plan, to just walk in?" Kirche said with a laugh

"We walk in, and while you get something to eat and _sleep_ for a bit, I'll go and try to figure out a way to sneak in. Does that work for you?" She asked turning back to the redhead, who narrowed her eyes as if in contemplation.

"Fine, but we still need to get past those guards." The redhead relented with a sigh.

"Not necessarily, we can pose as Albionese citizens that had been in hiding up in the mountains-"

"But after we ran out of supplies, we fled." The taller of the two concluded.

"Exactly."

The redhead closed her eyes no doubt contemplating the plan. "Fine Louise, we'll do it your way."

xXXXx

It was oddly confusing to Louise, as they neared the gate it became clear that these people had taken a different route when it came to the quarantine.

Surrounding the gate were several rows of tents that had been hidden by the fields of wheat, all of which had open windows which revealed water mages taking care of the ill, people visiting their family, and what looked to be food laid out tables for them to eat.

Hardly anyone paid attention to them, but the few that did silently observed her, no doubt due to her armour.

The sound of crying came from many of the tents, all except one that was completely silent. The same one whose stench of death was so prevalent that she had to call down her mask in order to stave off nausea that the smell brought with it.

It wasn't until a pair of men left the tent carrying a body whose midsection was liquified and whose orifices were seemingly leaking pinkish liquid of some kind, did her heart really jump.

It was the same, exactly the same as the fishing village. She hadn't really thought about it, but did this mean that those _aliens_ were responsible for this plague, and if they were where would they be hiding?

"Halt." One of the guards called out to them dragging her attention away from the horrifying scene and to the two men gazing down at her, their expressions hidden by the chilling bird masks. "Who are you two."

Her heart skipped a beat as she realized she hadn't planned had forgotten the most important part, an alias. "Uh..."

"Uh?" The man mocked

Sweat began to form on her head as her mind raced for two aliases for her and Kirche, who only sat in silence no doubt readying herself for a fight.

"Come on now we ain't got all day."

But no matter how hard she tried, her mind came up blank.

"Alright, I've just about had enough of yo-"

As if sensing her need, a simple command popped in her vision.

 _ **Repeat**_

Swallowing her fear, she did as she was told hoping to the gods that her Albanese was good enough to put on a convincing accent.

"Ah, sorry, it's been so long since me and my companion had seen another human." She said in a perfect Albionese accent surprising her, "My name is Michelle and this here is Lauren." She said gesturing to Kirche.

The men looked between themselves as if contemplating the validity of her statement. "How, long has it been since you last saw another man if you don't mind me asking?" The man on the left asked

"I'm not quite sure. The days out up on the mountain. They blurred together."

"Founder the mountain?" She heard one of the men mumble.

Louise nodded. "Our, village was going to be razed to the ground once the plague had shown up, but our people decided to fight back."

 _ **Lower your head**_

Doing as she was told she lowered her head as if in shame. "It was a pointless fight, the king's men were far too powerful, but it was never their intention to win. With them distracted they sent the children away into the forest to escape. We started out as twenty, but now only us two remain."

The men remained silent for what felt like minutes. "Then, why did you come down from the mountain?"

"Trolls, a group of them found our camp, so we had to flee. That was around a week ago, we've been on the move ever since."

The man took a deep breath seemingly taking in the magnitude of the story. "If you want into the village I'll need you to take off your helmet."

Saying nothing, she grabbed and twisted her helmet before pulling it off revealing her stoic face, of unwavering resolve, but internally, she was grinning, she had done it.

The man stepped forward and with a flick of his wrist unholstered his wand. As he kneeled down to her level, he gently grabbed her chin. The man mouth something and his wand suddenly brightened, forcing her to wince as he started his search for any sign of the plague.

Seemingly satisfied with the search, he stepped away and put his wand away in his belt. "I'm going to assume you two don't have much in terms of money, if you head to the local inn, the owner will put you two up in a room and give you something to eat if you ask for it."

"That seems awfully generous," Louise questioned as she looked to Kirche who said nothing as her examination was being done.

"We must support each other through these dark times." He said, stepping aside to let them through.

The pair said nothing, walking forward, crossing the threshold between the country and the town itself as Louise dawned her helmet once more.

"Oh and Michelle." The man called out to her. "Know that you're safe here."

She couldn't explain why, but all moisture within her mouth suddenly vanished, at the man's declaration. A Simple "Thanks." was all she could manage before both her and her companion walked away.

xXXXx

The inn was easily found, only being a few minutes' walks from the gate and was located in the market square.

They had followed the guard's suggestion to a tee, they told the innkeeper their predicament, and in return had received a tiny one-bedroom, as well as a simple loaf of bread that looked about as appetizing as the feed given to farm animals.

Louise however, had turned it down, not having the appetite to eat, and instead just went up to their room to think.

She couldn't fathom why, but she was nervous, which made their small room feel even more claustrophobic.

Any attempt to decipher why she was feeling this way met with failure. She had a multitude of theories, the most likely of which was the idea that the guards didn't seem like bad guys. They looked as if they cared for their people more then back at the port town.

The commoners still looked fearful, but those looks weren't directed at the soldiers. So why did they overthrow the monarchy?

Kirche wasn't much help either, all she did after eating was, enter the room, ask for the time, then set a timer spell on a nearby cup before collapsing onto the bed and passed out still in her armour.

Perhaps this was why she currently patrolled the outer wall to the castle, it was a rather pointless task as her suit would point out any gap in their defenses that she could exploit and she had already circled the castle several times over.

It didn't help that the longer she wandered around the more evidence of their humanity became clear. Which lead her to the question that had been consuming her thoughts for the past few hours.

Could she kill them if it came to that?

If it wasn't for the situation, she would have found the thought humorous for how absurd it was.

These men had sinned in the worst way possible by questioning the royalty, but here she was devout Brimirist wondering if they deserved what was coming.

Louise stopped in place and shook her head to clear it of thoughts. What was she thinking, she could just sneak in and save him without alerting anyone?

'But what if you're seen?'

'Well, then I'll just knock them out.'

'What if they're too many?'

'Then I'll run and figure out a new path.'

'And if you're surrounded?'

'Well, then I'll.'

'Get hurt and lose your legs like the suit said you would.'

The creeping sense claustrophobia had returned, but she could do nothing but bite her lip and hope that it wouldn't come to that.

Before Louise could return to her walk, she was suddenly pushed to the ground, landing on her rear with a soft thud.

"Hey!" Louise shouted, gazing up at the sight of a tall, young looking blonde woman with short hair. Covered in dirty rags that looked like she had been attempting to hide her appearance. "Look where you're going!"

The woman stared back at her in a state of disbelief.

"Are you deaf?"

That seemed to snap the woman out of her trance, as she simply blinked and quickly ran off. Leaving her alone.

"Tch. The nerve of some people."

As she sat there on the empty street, she got a clear view of a tiny indent in the wall between the wall itself and one of the towers, that would be the perfect place to scale it, as it was out of the way enough that they wouldn't have to worry about patrols.

"Hold on Viscount."

Putting a hand on her knee she pushed herself onto her feet, before turning and heading back to the inn.

xXXXx

If her suit was correct it was currently half past midnight. Both her and Kirche had left the inn as quietly as possible through their room's window and had successfully dodge patrols as they made it back to where she had bumped into the woman.

"So, what's the plan, Louise?" Kirche asked as they entered the tiny indent.

"Very simple." She started as she backed away from the wall in order to get a better view. "You lift me up the wall, I take out the guards and then you come up. We sneak our way through the castle and find the Viscount, then we get out of here."

"What about Fouquet?"

"huh?" Louise asked as she turned to the armoured redhead.

"I didn't come all this way just to get your husband Louise." Kirche barked "I came to avenge my familiar."

Biting her tongue she relented. "Fine, we'll find Loungville and you can do whatever you want with her, but we need to make sure that we get Wardes first."

An annoyed huff escaped the redhead's mouth as she grabbed and raised her hatchet muttering a faint few words.

A sudden feeling of weightlessness, she felt the support of the ground beneath her feet slowly fade away, as she was hoisted up into the air.

"Ok, Kirche, just slowly raise me up and I'll turn invisible just before reaching the to-, **AHHH"** Any semblance of rational thought was thrown out the window as she was shot skywards.

Tearing her gaze away from the ground which continued to fly further and further away, she looked up just in time to see the battlements getting uncomfortably close.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_.

She shot past the confused looking guards of the tower and soared over them, allowing her to take note of the two men the manned the tower all of whom were looking down at where she had come from.

Landing without as much as a thud, she quickly turned to face her advisories who still looked over the edge without a clue of her arrival.

As she reached for her blade, a sudden wave of apathy washed over her, stopping her in her tracks.

Slowly pulling her hand away from the blade she curled it into a fist as the plan formed in front of her.

Deactivating her cloak, she dashed toward, reaching the pair in only a few steps, and grabbed the man's shoulder as she punched the back of his head, making him go limp.

The man's partner was quick to react, quickly grabbing a dagger off of his own hip and attempting to stab her in the gut.

Easily blocking the blade, she grabbed his wrist and struck the man's elbow with the palm of her hand, snapping the joint with a sickening crack.

The man attempted to let out a scream, but a swift chop to the man's throat snuffed out any hope of getting help.

With a quick kick to the side of the man's knee, he lost his balance, giving Louise enough leverage to smash the man's head onto the side of the wall, knocking him out cold.

Stepping over the bodies, Louise peered over the edge, only to find Kirche was missing causing an eyebrow to raise in confusion. "Kirche?" She whispered into the dark, hoping that somehow caught her attention.

 _ **ENERGY BUILD UP DETECTED**_

Her suit spoke up, adding another objective to her vision, this one being attached to the airship that was still docked at the central tower.

 _ **TIME UNTIL EARLIEST POSSIBLE DEPARTURE**_

Her suit added, completing it with a countdown from nine minutes causing sweat to begin to run down her head.

Looking back over the edge, she desperately searched for Kirche, but no matter where she looked, there was no sign of her fiery haired friend.

Rushing over to the other side of the tower, she found a wall that led from the outer tower to the castle proper.

Louise couldn't help but grit her teeth in frustration. Why did she have to rush everything?

Crouching down, she let the power build in her legs, before she hopped off the tower, landing halfway to the castle. She quickly ran over to the door on the far side of the wall, pressing the side of her head up to it.

Hearing nothing on the other side of the door, she pushed it open revealing a plain stone hallway that reminded her all too well of the utilitarian feel of her family's own castle.

Seeing no threats, she moved forward under the torchlight of the castle, with her goal being above her she needed to find a set of stairs and quick.

The castle's layout was confusing, to say the least, everything looked the same, halls twisted back on themselves and like the entrance she used, were devoid of any notable landmarks.

If not for her suits map, she could have spent hours searching for a way up.

Perhaps that was the point of this place, if it was indeed to hold prisoners then any escape would be bogged down by trying to figure out where everything was. But something was off, there was no one, around, not one guard.

Where were they?

It wasn't until she almost gave up, that she had noticed something amiss, a seemingly ordinary door had what looked to be moonlight pouring in from the small gap between it and the floor.

With no other options available to her she cautiously made her way to the door, and pulled it open, finding herself on a catwalk that overlooked the moonlit courtyard.

Everywhere she looked there was a prison cell, that was when her gaze soon found a staircase up to the next floor on the other side of the courtyard.

Louise slowly inched her way past the threshold.

 _ **THREAT DETECTED**_

Only to instantly threw herself back into the castle proper as the sound of a door opening came from somewhere in the courtyard.

"I'm just saying, that girl is only going to cause trouble." A male voice from somewhere on the catwalk said.

"Are you still on this?" A feminine voice asked

Her heartbeat began to pick up as their voices drew closer.

"Of course! She looks like those things up in northern Albion"

"What things?"

The footsteps stopped as silence began to take hold of the courtyard once again. "Are you kidding me? The demons."

'Demons?' Louise pondered to herself.

 _ **CLOAK ENGAGED**_

Now transparent she dashed out of the doorway, finding a tall brown-haired woman clad in thick metal armour, staring blankly at a blonde man in similar clothing, only gawked at her in surprise.

"What demons?" The woman asked turning and continuing their patrol straight towards Louise.

Thinking on her feet, Louise flung herself off of the catwalk, grabbing the railing to keep herself from falling all the way to the ground. She needed to hear this.

"The metal Demons that have been harassing our troops to the north."

"Oh, those metal demons." The woman dismissed.

The man rushed forward and blocked the woman's path, which was just in front of where she hid.

"Why do you think they've been rotating out our soldiers."

"Is it because of those demons?"

"Yes."

The woman rolled her eyes and pushed past the man and entered the door that she had just left from. "And why is this girl concerning you?"

"Because she looks exactly like them, the silvery metal and red glass that covers her eyes." The man said as he reached out and grabbed her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

"If there were demons up north how come I haven't heard about them?" The Woman scoffed.

"It's Cromwell, he wants to keep this secret, silence orders coming down from every commander, loss of rations cleaning duty, firing squad."

 _ **ENERGY CRITICAL**_

Louise's breath hitched in her throat as the red text flashed in her vision. 'Come on.' She thought to herself. 'Leave already.'

"Then why are you telling me this?" The woman asked starting to walk again.

"Because I figured that it would make the time go by." The man said, his voice growing more and more muffled as the door slowly closed on its own.

Hoisting herself back up and over the railing, she deactivated her cloak, and simply stared at where the pair of guards had taken. "Did you hear that derf?"

"Yeah, they sounded _way_ too similar to the guards you described from your mission in La Rochelle, I wonder if they're related?" Her blade mused as he slowly moved its way out of his sheath.

"No not that." Louise berated. "Those demons, they're up in northern Albion. They must be behind the plague."

"Huh?" The sword asked.

"Think about it, the demons in Tristian were assaulting a town that was suffering to something extremely similar to what these people are dealing with, now the demons are on Albion and so is the plague."

"No not that." The sword told her. "I was wondering how you hadn't realized it yet."

She scowled beneath her helmet as she shot a look to the hilt of her blade. "What?"

"I mean it was pretty obvious, I figured it out when you first took on those things. Although perhaps that's because of my oh so immense int-" Louise slammed the blade back into its sheath as she let a huff escape her throat. "Ok, we'll talk later."

Turning back to her objective, she sprinted over to the stairs and quickly began ascending the tower, until she was on the same level as her objective.

Throwing open the door back into the castle, Louise felt a chill run down her spine, all the torches had been smothered making the hall pitch black.

Questions plagued her mind, what had caused this? Had Kirche found another way in? Was she alone?

A small beep courtesy of her suit brought her back to reality, she had no time to ponder such questions, she had to move.

 _ **NANOVISION ENABLED**_

With the darkness now dispelled she carefully moved forward, starting every step on her the ball of her heel, and then slowly rolling onto her toes, all in an attempt to stop any noise from escaping and alerting whatever rebels were manning this area of the castle.

The tension in the air was palpable, as Louise went further and further into this labyrinth, making her reach and unsheathe Derf.

"You know I thi-" Derf started, but was promptly shushed to silence.

She didn't know why, but she was convinced that someone had to be here, watching her. Her suit was as quiet as could be, not alerting her to any possible threats, and whenever she turned around there was no one but there had to be someone.

It was that feeling of eyes on your back, and it was a feeling she couldn't quite shake.

But time after time of checking her surroundings made her wave it off as nothing but her nerves getting to her.

Turning the final corner, she found herself face to face with the door that the viscount was no doubt being held behind at the end of the seemingly empty hall, just some forty feet away.

But that was just it. The hall was empty.

If they were holding onto such a valuable person as a Viscount, they would at least have some guards well, guarding him.

Gritting her teeth, Louise slinked down into a crouch and began to make her way down the hall, completely alert to anything and everything that was going on.

Hands trembling in anticipation she raised Derf to the side of her head, pointing the tip of his blade down the hall, in a stance not to dissimilar to what she'd seen in knight manuals she 'borrowed' from her mother's study.

"Partner, behind you!"

 _ **ENERGY SURGE DETECTED**_

She threw her gaze over her shoulder just in time, to see a tall looming figure a light in varying shades of red, the most prevalent of which was on the figures outstretched hand.

 _ **MAXIM-**_

Before her suits protective layer could take effect, a single bolt of lightning shot from its hand, striking and sapping all the suits remaining power throwing all sense of tactics out of her mind, and into the darkness which now suffocated her.

A muffled grunt of pain escaped her now barred teeth. She wasn't going to lose, not now!

With a twist of her body she swung Derf aimlessly and received nothing but the clack of rock in return, attempting to pull Derf back only made her realize that he was stuck in the rock wall of the castle.

Pain suddenly shot from her gut, forcing a grunt of pain out of her open mouth.

She had to do something, she had to fight.

Taking a step away, she waited, there was only one way she could win.

Upon feeling something wrap around her wrist, she moved.

Out streching both her arms, she wrapped them around her attacker trapping them from moving.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

Using what little energy, she had recover she slammed the person into a nearby wall which forced her to let go of her wrist, and with whatever agility she had, let go of the figure and unsheathe her dagger as she held the figure down by the chest with her hand just as her energy depleted.

Her head was suddenly forced back as the pain of the sudden attack registered forcing her back into a stumble as the attacker broke free.

Stomping her back foot stopping the stumble she stabbed the dagger forward. Only for it to be swatted away like a simple house fly.

Hands wrapped around her wrist and arm, as she felt the figure move to her side and not a moment latter, pain shot from the side of her knee as it was forcefully kicked out from underneath her. Causing her to stumble to the ground with the grace of an ox.

Before her mind could catch up with what was happening, she felt herself being thrown through the air, landing on her back with a mighty thud, knocking all sense of what was happening and not a moment later, she left herself being dragged away

Any hope of escape was dashed when her suits energy reserves refused to go up, remaining at zero no matter how long she waited.

Tears slowly formed in the corners of her eyes as she held back as hard as she could.

Her attacker let out a feminine grunt as Louise felt herself be placed in one of the corners of the pitch-black room.

The clacking of chains reverberated around the room as they were wrapped around wrists. Louise offering no resistance.

The torches in the room suddenly relit bathing the room in light. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden change in light, she felt her mouth dry, sweat begin to run down her face and her body becoming as tense as a saddle's straps.

"M-M-Mother?" She blubbered out at the sight of the familiar CELL armour. "What are you doing here? I didn't mean to attack you I just didn't know it was you?"

She said nothing as she reached up to her face mask and pulled it off, revealing a furious looking Heavy wind. "I should be asking you the same thing?" Her mother calmly asked, betraying the downright nightmare inducing glare that she was giving her.

Louise's heart fell into her gut as her blood ran cold, what was she supposed to say? What could she say?

Her mother spoke no words but the fire in her eyes told her that she was waiting for an explanation.

She swallowed her fear, she had to tell her the truth. "Reconquista attacked the port after you left, and during the attack, they kidnapped Wardes." She blurted out.

"That still doesn't explain why _you're_ here."

"I had to save him, I was the only one that saw him get kidnapped. And my suit is the only thing that could track him."

Karen crouched down and grabbed her by the collar yanking her close as she barred her teeth. "And did you not think about the consequences? That this could be a trap. Having a viscount as a hostage pales in comparison to having the daughter of the second most power family in Tristian! Did you think about that? Did you even have any support?"

"I did, I didn't come alone!" She pleaded.

"Who?"

"A friend from school, a triangle fire mage."

"I asked who?"

"Kirche."

"Last name."

Her mouth ran dry as fear crept back up within her. "Z-Zerbst."

The anger on her mother's face faltered for a single moment before she barred her teeth and let her go, turning away. "A Zerbst, that's the type of friends you've been making at the academy?"

"It's not like th-"

"Enough!" She shouted silencing any possible decent. "There are things that I still need to retrieve, after that I'm calling the mission off and bringing you home myself, where you will stay until I see fit."

"B-But my schooling."

"That can be done at home under my supervision."

Karin spun on her heel and walked over to her before crouching down and taking her hand.

Louise felt something press into her palm and instinctively wrapped her fingers around it just as Karin stood up, finding a pistol in her hands.

"This shouldn't be too unfamiliar to you if you were able to make it this far." Karin said, as she began to walk over to the door. "I'll, be locking the door until I get back."

Before Louise could stop her, her mother left the room and with a click locked the door, leaving her alone.

"Psst. Pinky." the voice of Derf, broke through the soft sounds of her mother walking away. Glancing towards the source Louise was met with a stanch. "Don't look at me." Forcing her to return to gazing towards the center of the room.

"Wh-"

"Don't speak to me either."

'Huh?'

"Your mother is listening in on the room, so I had to resort to speaking to you through your mind."

'You can read minds?'

"Kind of, it requires a lot of willpower to be able to pull off so I can't really do it all too often but that's not important right now. I can get you out of here."

Her eyes widened. 'What how?'

"That chain is coursing with willpower, it's probably what's stealing your suits magic."

A new hope resurged within her. If she was already going to be in trouble. 'What's your plan?'

"Simple," The blade communicated as it popped out of its sheath, and began to tremble, causing him to fall over blade first on to the chains that confined her.

Almost immediately her strength began to return

"When you break free, you're going to need to be quick, she's no doubt notice something is amiss."

Nodding, Louise began to force her way through her binds. The metal groaning as it began to split apart.

 _ **MAXIMUM POWER**_

With a single flex the metal snapped apart, sending fragments across the room.

"Now let's go get that husband of yours."

With a new wave of confidence, she picked up and placed Derf and her pistol on her hip before running over to the door, reeling back her arm she punched the small space between the door knob and the frame breaking the locking mechanism.

She threw the door open with haste and stepped out into the darken hallway.

 _ **ENERGY SURGE DETECTED**_

Glancing away from her objective she saw a faint yellow glimmer through the darkness of the hall.

Gritting her teeth, she swiftly reached down and pulled Derf from its sheath just as the lightning reached her, impacting and dispersing into the blade.

"I think she noticed." Derf said as he consumed the magic.

"You think!?" Louise shouted, spinning and beginning to run down the hall.

The door grew closer and closer.

Fifty feet "Stop!" She heard her mother cry out

Thirty feet "Louise" She added

Ten feet. Louise clenched her elbow to her gut, and aimed her armoured shoulder at the door.

The hardened wood that made up the door, did little to stop her assault and simple shattered.

Splinters were thrown through the air, a new bright light blinded her to the people within. "It's a trap!"

A chorus of clicks came from in front of her as her vision adjusted.

Five.

Five musketeers stood in front of her all of their guns trained on her.

Her eyes widened as her body acted on its own, grabbing the pistol from her hip, she raised it to her eye. But before she could fire, she was suddenly thrown backwards to the floor, at the same time as the room erupted in gunfire.

The pellets passed right in front of her face as they sailed over her.

Impacting into the ground, she looked back into the hallway, finding her mother on the ground clenching at her chest, gasping for air.

Louise could only stared wide eyed at the scene as her mind attempted to catch up with her, they had killed her, her mother, the heavy wind was dead.

Because

Of

Her

Tears streamed down her face, this was her fault, all because she didn't listen, all because she had to be the hero and save Wardes.

No, A surge of rage grew within her core, they had done this, they had pulled the trigger that had ended her mother's life and she would do to them what they had done to her.

Barring her teeth, she swiftly brought the pistol up and took a shot into the mass of musketeers impacting the centermost soldier in the chest sending his body to the floor in a limp crumple.

Shooting to her feet, she unsheathed Derf once more and charged the men who had done this they had to die, it was the only way to atone.

A sudden bolt of lightning shot from between the firing line, impacting her before she had time to react sapping all sense of power from her and turning her charge into an uncoordinated stumble as pain coursed through her body

Pushing through the pain, the only thing on her mind was one thing. 'I can't, lose!'

Dropping the pistol, she brought her free hand to her swords hilt and lifted it over her head. With all the strength she could muster she brought the sword down on one of the soldiers who did nothing to stop her attack, as if accepting his fate.

A sudden clang filled the room, as steel met steel, right in front of the man's unflinching face.

Her gaze trailed up the blade, resting on a thin sword wand that had blocked her attack.

Her gaze shot to the owner of the blade, and nearly instantly she felt the flame within her be snuffed out.

"W-Wardes?" She muttered staring wide-eyed at the sight of her perfectly fine fiancé.

Why, why was he free, and why was helping them? Why had saved the men who had killed mother?

Questions flooded her head, but no matter how she looked at it it didn't make sense, he was a son of a Tristian Merchant, so why would he betray her?

The tall man lunged forward, grabbing her wrist and arm, yanking her over an extended leg and too the floor on her stomach.

Before she could even attempt to get up, she felt a sudden weight shove her back to the floor.

"Viscount, why are you doing this? Why are you helping them?" She pleaded for an answer but received no answer in return.

"Go check the other one." The voice of the viscount ordered as he continued to pin her.

She struggled and attempted to fight her way free, but much like the chains that had bound her before, any energy her suit generated was instantly stolen leaving her powerless in the man's grip.

"She's fine!" one of the soldiers shouted from down the hallway. "Seems like her clothing was armoured against musket shots but with the way she's struggling for air, I'm going to guess the wind's knocked out of her."

She wasn't dead? But, she had been shot by a firing squad? How had she survived?

"Disarm her and bring her here."

In a sudden and swift motion, she was flipped over onto her back, but before she had a chance to do anything, the viscount that she had trusted so much pinned her down with her knee while he held some yellow stone in a free hand.

"Hey you best, let my partner go, or you're going to be sorry." Her blade threatened.

She thrashed and struggled, but a flick of his wand, her arms were forced to ground. "Matilda."

Stone wrapped around her wrists and ankles making any possible movement impossible.

Louise could do nothing but watch, as Wardes looked up and down her body for something.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she noticed a flash of green to her left. Tilting her head only confirmed her worries, Loungville was standing over her, the dagger that she had stolen from her in her hand.

"You seem to be taking your sweet time Viscount." The greenette, asked.

"I have to find a gap in the armour and the skin."

The woman scoffed and grabbed the stone from him and flipped the dagger into a reverse grip, and brought it down on her chest piercing it with ease.

Her mouth and eyes shot wide, from the pain, but not sound escaped, as if all the noise was caught in her throat.

It soon began to feel as if her chest was on fire and it only grew hotter like she was being spit roasted by elves.

 _ **WARNING**_

 _ **EMP SHUTDOWN**_

 _ **ALL SYSTEMS IMPAIRED**_

 _ **SWITCHING TO CORE FUNCTION MODE**_

 _ **LIFE SUPPORT PRIORITY**_

Her field of vision narrowed vision accompanied by a wave of fatigue, as the information, that once filled her vision vanished.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Wardes shouted at the woman.

"The faster we load up and leave, the faster we can begin the negotiations."

"Last I checked, you weren't in charge of this mission... Take the Zerbst and the other prisoner to the ship. We depart in five minutes."

'Zerbst? She had been captured? When, how?'

"Wait. move that prisoner to my room." Wardes added.

A sudden tug at her limp arm, brought her up to a stand before being flung over some unseen soldiers' shoulder.

The last thing she saw as she was dragged out of the room, was the sight of her mother staring her down, attempting to reach out to her.

xXXXx

 **NANOSUIT DATABASE UPDATED**

 **Channeling gauntlet**

Originating in Albion at the height of the Romalian empire, as a way to give their air force an edge in aerial combat, it was created in order to solve the issue of mages losing their foci's in the middle of air battles with enemy's by turning an armoured gauntlets index finger into a foci.

This allowed for Alboniese dragon riders to perform more complex maneuvers while not having to deal with a cumbersome sword wand while still being able to perform their duties.

It was due to their effectiveness that it quickly spread across the empire among low born nobles and mercenaries. Those high in society saw them as unsightly, and crude, deeming them a barbarian's weapon, a reputation that they still hold today.

 **Castle Augustine**

Named after the first saint of the church of Brimir, it was built early after the Romalian conquest of southern Albion, it became the main headquarters for the army as they continued the purge of elves on the army acting as both the center of power and logistical support for the region.

It was soon rendered obsolete with the creation of Londinium, which after the unification of the isle had a more central location at the base of mount Tudor.

It would go mostly unchanged until the beginning of the plague and the start of the civil war where it was renovated into a prison for political prisoners, holding some of the most prominent figures of the early revolution, until a silent uprising from within the walls caused it to be turned over to rebel control who continued to use it as a prison for those whose death would only be seen as a martyr.


End file.
